UAAP '74 (Go USTe!)

Just got home from Araneta (now known as Smart-Araneta) after watching my first live UAAP basketball game for this season. Even though the odds were not on our side it was still a fun experience. I was not even planning to watch this season because I think I'm already jinxed for the reason that everytime I watch it live, they lose. Huu! Sorry Tigers! =\ But anyway, our one and only prelim exam for this week was moved to Saturday so I don't have anything to do and Gem and Dianne was searching for more companions so I hopped in.

We went inside around 2:30 pm just in time to catch the last quarter of the UP vs AdU game which the falcons dominated. Then around 3pm the players of LaSalle started to came out to warm up in the court which is followed by the Tigers then followed by a loud cheer from the Thomasian crowd. No one can beat the school spirit of Thomasians. Haha! What a happy community. So after a couple of minutes the game started with the Archers gaining the first points. The Archers were owning the game from the start till the end of the 2nd quarter with a 20+ pt. lead. Yea. So sad. As noticed from the game, the de La Salle players were very good in assisting each other and they were more into shots near the hoop with a number of alley-hoops, while the Tigers lack a strong defense but only if they would polish it more they would be a big challenge to other teams because they've got players with a lot of potential just like in the past few years. Yea. Kunwari alam ko talaga nangyayari. Hehe. But the two Jeric's of UST was really good! I'm an instant fan. Hehe.

So after the 2nd quarter, both teams went back to the dug out while the Yellow Jackets and the DLSU counterpart went out for a halftime stint. They did their respective school cheers first facing their respective side. The YJ made the "viva la liga" and "black gold, black white" plus some other I can't remember. After each squad did their own, both joined together to form the letters "UST" and made a UST cheer that surely pumped up the crowd then next they formed the letters "LS" plus a DLSU cheer altogether. I don't know if this is the first time having both squads join forces chanting even the opponent's cheer, but that's the most awesome halftime show I saw. Just shows how sportsmanship is seen in UAAP and how everything is just a game where in the end everyone should all be friends. Aww. Props to the YJ and DLSU squad for that amazing show! =]

The second half of the game was the great climax. Everyone's so hyped up after the Tigers notched up in their game after finally making their scores close in with the Archers from time to time. The game became more intense with the addition of a number of players getting cramps/injury and even someone from DLSU slipped accidentally and had a bad fall that I didn't saw because I was at the cr. Nyaa. The last quarter was the point were almost everyone in the UST side was already cheering their lungs out after coming to a close fight with DLSU only having a 1 pt. advantage with 18seconds left. Woohoo! The most excruciating seconds of the game. This is the moment when every second really counts. How I wonder what the players feel when this happens. I really admire Coach Pido and others in times like this because they still get to have a solid plan even if only a mere seconds were left. That epic comeback from the Tigers boosted everyone's energy after almost being slammed down on points by the Archers. But in the end, the DLSU team made it with a score of 74 against 71 of the UST Growling Tigers. Aww. But honestly, I didn't felt too bad unlike from the past games I went to in the past seasons. I just had fun watching plus UST definitely gave DLSU a good fight, if only there was more time left they could have got it. The energy and enthusiasm of the crowd is the best thing in watching live. I haven't even expected that a lot of Thomasians would come because it's supposed to be a prelim week for us, compared to the DLSU crowd which is smaller and they're not so much into cheering chants I guess. So getting back to the game, it's a very good fight and a lesson for the Tigers which they need a lot to totally get back in the stats on the second round of eliminations. As of now they have 3w and 4l, I just hope the odds would finally be in their side on the 2nd round of elims. Go Uste! =]