My Escape Route: UAAP S77 . Playoffs

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

UAAP S77 . Playoffs | Semis

late post

We didn't get so much attention when this season started but we made it to the Finals.

At the start of the UAAP S77 we didn't expect so much because this was the post Terrence Romeo and RR Garcia era. Two of the best guard who brought so much noise for the past seasons. Both MVP, known for the unexpected exploding every game, teammates and tandem even though they look like rivals on court, though they somehow connect to each other last year. And I'm done talking about them. Oh and lets give a shout out to Gryann Mendoza too.

As the pre-season last summer, everyone was already talking about what is the future of FEU without the R and T on MRT (Mike-RR-Terrence). Mike is always the silent guy. He needed to fill in the spot of TR and RR but let me tell you something, there's a huge difference between Mike Tolomia and TR - RR. Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge MRT fan but there's also an invisible barrier to the three of them when they're playing.

If you're a new Mike Tolomia fan then this is for you and if you already know this then lets just enjoy it once again.

Mike still needs to improve some things but as I saw him play since his rookie year, I know that he already improved a lot.

There are a few post maybe a 2-4 under UAAP tag during first and second round so I think I can skip that because I really wanted to talk about the play offs, semis and of course the finals.

We were back in Manila from Palawan last September 21 and we have a game by then but we decided to skip it because we are already tired and broke from the trip. Fortunately, we won and we got the twice-to-beat advantage against DLSU.

September 27 - We watched live but DLSU won and our chance to be on the finals was cut short so we need to win one more game against DLSU to be in the finals.

October 1 - Our game was scheduled to 6pm (PBA style) and good thing I was early because it rained so hard and the traffic was insane compared to an ordinary day. The first game was NU and ADMU its also a do-or-die game and NU was leading (65-63) when the power went off a bit with a 9.3 seconds left. According to the tweets that we read while waiting outside both teams agreed to wait for almost 20 minutes or more so they can fix the tech stuff and the lightning. Alfred Aroga just kill the last play of ADMU by blocking the layup of Kiefer. End of regulation, NU is back in the finals after 44 years.

Some DLSU fans was also cheering for NU for some reasons. While NU celebrates, we are nervous because that do-or-die game will either give us a shot to the finals or we will end up on the third spot.

photo from Gem

When we entered Araneta, I was blown away because our crowd was so huge and it was my first time to witness that kind of audience after we defeated Adamson twice last 2011 to be in the finals. That was the first biggest crowd we had for this season and it was amazing. It all started that day.

Down to the final minute of the game, both teams are tied at 64. We got the ball possession at the last 24 seconds. Instead of giving you every detail please, just watch the video below. Hats off to Mike Tolomia.