•NCAA Basketball Lionsvs. Knights page 8

•Ang lagay ng puso, careerat bulsa mo malalaman nasa BILOG ANG BOLA

page 7

•Parks, Teng Shine page 3

•Salva TOP OF THECLASS page 4

•STANDING TALL JericFortuna page 5

•UST’s Abdul BACK TOLESSONS page 5

SAN Beda aceRome Dela RosaAUGUST DELA CRUZ

ATENEO BLUE EAGLES

Party of Five—Page 2

Love: Y

YYYYYHindi na bawal angpag-ibig na ganyan

VICTORY ride for the 5thtime: Black acknowledges theecstatic crowd. AUGUST DELA CRUZ

VOL. 1 NO. 9 • OCTOBER 18-25, 2012

SAGITTARIUS

2

UAAP SEASON 75:

Party of Fivetion of the Philippines (UAAP)Season 75 men’s basketballtournament, the Ateneo deManila University had accom-plished the unthinkable, win-ning five straight titles, domi-nance previously unseen sincethe adoption of the Final Fourformat and a formidableachievement in the history ofPhilippine basketball.

It also comes at the time ofgreat change, adding a tri-umphant if poignant note tothis achievement, as the ascen-sion is accompanied by depar-tures anticipated and unexpect-ed. It comes ten years after theBlue Eagles returned to promi-nence with their first champi-onship after the so-called “darkyears” of the 1990s. That makesthis year’s championship his-toric on so many levels.

The pieces of history lay inthe hands of head coach Nor-

man Black, the bemedalledbench tactician who trans-formed the Ateneans into themost fearsome court machine inthe 2000s. In the process,Black—perhaps the best situa-tional mind in the game—builta program that combined thebest elements on differentteams, such as athletic big men(6’7” Rabeh Al-Hussaini and7’0” Greg Slaughter) and clutchshooters (smart swingman ChrisTiu and gifted guard KieferRavena) into a seamless pro-gression.

The Blue Eagles would im-pose their will on the opposi-tion even during the elimina-tions, finishing with remarkablerecords (13-1 in 2008, 13-1 in2009, 10-4 in 2010, and 13-1 in2011) before stamping theirclass on the Final Four and therespective Finals, defeating allcomers and adding a blue feel

to the end of every season.Season 75 began with the

announcement that mastermindBlack would be leaving theteam at season’s end to returnto the Philippine Basketball As-sociation and, even as the BlueEagles felt every bit of the freshparity that had descended uponthe league, long-time team pa-tron Manny V. Pangilinan endedhis relationship with the univer-sity. Despite all the noise, theLoyola quintet finished atop theeliminations with a 10-4 recordthey fought beak and claw for,ultimately ousting archrival DeLa Salle in a tense Final Fourstandoff. A wary, seemingly vul-nerable Blue Eagles squad head-ed into the Season 75 FinalsGame 1 at the Mall of Asia Are-na—the first finals game in theUAAP’s brand new home—fac-ing the University of SantoTomas Growling Tigers, one ofthe only two teams which haddefeated the Ateneans duringthe regular season and hadmemorably upset the Eagles inthe 2006 Finals.

Pushing like they never had

before and with the metronomicconsistency of forward Nico Sal-va’s 30 points, the Blue Eagleseked out a win, 83-78, after-coming back from seven pointsdown, a win that would bemarked by a post-game combatof comments from the coaches.Still, the Blue Eagles had-grabbed the initiative.

To take it all, the Blue Eagleshad to win just one more game,on October 10, at the classichome of Philippine basketball,the Smart Araneta Coliseum,which had been witness tocountless cage gladiatorialmatches before. This one wouldmeet that standard. The Growl-ing Tigers promised vengeanceand the Blue Eagles bracedthemselves for the UST resur-gence, so it surprised no onethat the first half ended at 29-all, with everything to play forin the second half, 20 minutesto history.

With graduating Tiger gunnerJeric Fortuna scattering 20 pointswith timely treys, the Tigers actu-ally managing to wrest the leadaway before the Blue Eagles firedback with a great all-aroundgame from the Phenom, sopho-more guard Ravena, who hadbeen having a masterpiece of aseason, averaging 16 points andfive rebounds. The freakishly ta-lented Ravena fired a game-high22 points, including the nail onthe UST coffin, a smoothmidrange jumper with less than aminute to go that towed the Ea-

gles to a 62-58 lead. He alsosoared for a shocking 11 re-bounds.

Already owner of ten points,Blue Eagle point guard JuamiTiongson, in his first season asstarter, ended the battle with acrucial steal that gave the Ate-neans a 65-62 victory and theircherished fifth straight cage title.

As the championship turnedinto a back-to-back then into athree-peat and a four-peat be-fore finally blossoming into afive-peat or a Drive for Five, theBlue Eagles crowned themselvesthe best college basketball teamof the decade and took theirplace among the Filipino bas-ketball immortals. What anamazing run it has been.

Now it is time to begin an-other run. In the wake of Sea-son 75, the Blue Eagles enterthe unknown territory of a lifewithout Black, Pangilinan andfive players including startersSlaughter and Salva. The BlueEagles enter an age of readilyimproving opposition in aleague whose teams intend onturning the current world ordertopsy-turvy. However, the BlueEagles will return with perhapsthe league’s brightest talent, the5’11” Ravena, number 15, whoboasts the ability to take over agame all by himself.

It is he who will lead theAteneo Blue Eagles into the fu-ture, a time beyond Black, intowhat the Ateneans dream willbe a Phenomenal new era.

By Ruel S. De Vera

B EFORE the end of every era, it shinesbright—and blue.By the end of hostilities in the University Athletic Associa-

THE Blue Eagles run and shout for joy asthe final buzzer sounded. AUGUST DELA CRUZ

OCTOBER 18-25, 2012

3

PARKS FACEBOOK PHOTOS

Ray Parks: brighter than ever

“It’s definitely a blessing andprivilege to be named MVP forthe second time,” said Parks.

True enough, one Ray ismore than enough to outshinethe light of many superstars.

The sharpshooting Parks av-eraged 20.73 points per gameand also ranked first in theoverall statistical points(77.2857).

University of Santo TomasGrowling Tiger Karim Abdul,

who was also a gunner in lastyear’s MVP award, took the sec-ond seed with 15.82 points pergame and also had the mostnumber of field goals made.

He [Parks] scored moremarkers this season with a totalof 311 points (1st overall), 111rebounds (10th overall) , 66 as-sists (3rd overall), 18 blocks(7th overall) and 22 steals (2ndoverall) compared to Season 74statistics which he only had atotal of 280 points, 91 boards,40 assists,15 steals and 15blocks.

Breaking CulturesEven when Parks was a rook-

ie, he was determined to builda new image of the NU Bull-dogs and set a tradition of ex-cellence.

Though the FilOil Tourna-

ment pre-season champs NUBulldogs surprisingly weren’table to enter the finals, Parksstill was a man of his words andcarried the banner of the Sam-paloc-based squad.

“I’m glad on an individualstandpoint that I did well buthonestly, I could’ve brought theteam higher,” quipped Parks. “Thisisn’t really my main goal; if ithappens, it happens and if itdoesn’t, well, God has a purpose.”

Parks also stressed that hecould’ve done it without thehelp of his team and the unitythat the Bulldogs have whenthey play inside the court.

“It was my teammates thathelped me out,” said the 6’4”Parks. “They were making shotsfor me and I just score whenev-er I need to. I believe that I justdid my role for the team and bydoing that, I fell to the rightspot.”

The quest for excellence con-tinues not only for Parks but thewhole NU community and whoknows, they may shock thecrowd next year. As the sayinggoes, “Everything is possible.”

By Alexx Esponga

O OOPS, he did it again. In spite of the criticismshe received last year, National University Bull-dog Ray Parks was not stopped and proved

that his spirit was unbreakable after bagging the MostValuable Player Award in the UAAP Season 75.

‘Blessed’When the back-to-back

MVP was asked how hewould describe thisseason, he onlysaid a word,“Blessed.”

Parks admittedthat being part ofthe Final Fourwas huge tothem and tothe NU com-munity. He wit-nessed how itbrought theBulldogs togeth-er and that madehis season specialand memorable.

“I just really ap-preciate everyonewho came towatch, support andgive us love,” Parkssaid. “Next year,we’ll do a lot betterbecause were pro-gressing each yearand I just want toput on a show foreverybody.”

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR JERON TENG

Rise of the King Archer

But that did not hinder himfrom showing his true colorsand making a legacy of hisown as he ended his first sea-son in the UAAP as Rookie ofthe Year.

“I feel really blessed,” Teng,who is also part of the Mythi-cal Five, said. “But for me, Ithink that it is just a bonus.During the UAAP, I didn’teven think of this because Iwas just focused on winningand helping the team out.”

And help the team hedid, armed with a philoso-phy he stuck to all season.

Hard work beats talentTeng admitted that there was

a lot of pressure on him being amuch-hyped newcomer. But hesaid he dealt with the pressurein a different way.

Instead of letting it weighhim down, Teng used the pres-sure as encouragement, as asign that people were aware ofwhat he and the team are capa-ble of.

And luckily, the support ofthe La Salle community everygame helped him in that part.

“When I’m inside the courtand hear them, nawawala tala-

ga ’yung pagod ko,” said Teng.“Hearing them cheer makes mewant to win more because afterall, para sa kanila rin naman’yon.”

Most of the scrutiny thathounded Teng came during LaSalle’s games against Universityof Santo Tomas, which featuresin its roster older brother Jeron.

For UAAP fans, that was aninteresting sidelight, even if thebrothers found it strange to becompeting against each other.

“One of the most unforget-table experiences I had this sea-son was when I played againstmy brother,” said GrowlingTiger Jeric Teng. “For me it’skind of weird but it was also ex-citing. I had a great time.”

Both teams split their seasonassignments, although Jeronmay have more bragging rightsover Jeric if only for the way

the Archers defeated the Tigers.When Jeron was asked for a

favorite UAAP moment apartfrom making the Final Four, heanswered: “My winning shotagainst UST. It was really spe-cial to me.”

True enough, this is an un-forgettable season not only forJeron Teng but also for all theUAAP fans who had long antici-pated his debut.

“Jeron is an amazing kid andhe brings intensity to the team,”said Green Archers coach GeeAbanilla. “He also has a goodcharacter; he is very hard work-ing and talented as well.”

La Salle has produced starsthat played in the pros and alsocontributed a lot to Philippinebasketball. Teng is a cinch tofollow that line. And his perfor-mance this season is only apeek of what’s to come.

By Alexx Esponga

A FTER leaving a mark in his high school ca-reer as a Xavier School Stallion, Jeron Tengknew he had bigger mountains to climb

and harder battles to fight in the collegiate scene.

TENGFACEBOOK

PHOTOS

OCTOBER 18-25, 2012

4

Top of the classBy Ruth L. Navarra

I f UAAP had a commencement ceremony, Nico Salva wouldgraduate at the top of his honor class.

bered as the guy who gave it all towin,” says the captain of the AteneoBlue Eagles.

He said that out of the five champi-onships, the last one was the hardest towin. He said that game against theUST Growling Tigers was the champi-onship they won with the closest mar-gin.

The rare peat onlysunk in for him themorning after. He saidthat he could barelysleep with so much ex-citement.

Salva worked for thechampionship trophyon and off the court.He said that he led byexample. He did every-thing he wanted histeammates would do.

He stayed behind af-ter team practice to doextra drills with thecoaches. He would in-vite the other playerson their days off to doextra shooting. Butmost of all, he emphasized to them theteamwork mentality.

“Hindi mo dapat isipin yung sarilimo. Unlike sa iba, pupunta sa game,gusto nila sila best player or highestpointer. It’s good that you get those ac-colades but you have to think aboutthe team first,” he said.

Just like last year, Salva didn’t try tooutshine his teammates. He worked onworking with them. But for a guy whohas won the championship five times ina row, his two finals’ Most ValuablePlayer awards almost seem too meagre.

“I didn’t get into the mythical five orwin the MVP of the season. I wouldn’twant it any other way. Maybe if Iplayed in some other team I would’vegotten them. But in a team that relieson teamwork, I believe it doesn’t mat-ter,” he said. “Ang goal ko naman everyyear is the championship. As a bonus Igot the finals MVP. I am very thankful.”

He is one of, if not, the most funda-mentally sound player in the league.Whenever his teammates appear rat-tled in the dying seconds of the game,

Salva never loses his composure.He attributes this to the smart

coaching staff his team has. He saysthat he always know what to do be-cause they tell him what he should do.

A lot of NBA fans also notice howSalva sometimes pull off a move thatreminds them of Kobe Bryant. Hejoined the basketball camp Bryant did

on his rookie year.Their picture to-

gether is proudly ondisplay on his Twitteraccount (@nickobesal-va). Salva, who is al-ways eloquent in thepress room, is reducedto a fanboy when hediscusses his favoriteplayer.

“Wow. Kobe. For mehe’s the best player inthe world right now.He’s been my idolsince I was seven. Tobe compared to him? Idon’t know aboutthat,” he said with ahint of a smile in his

voice. “I watch the Lakers games saYouTube and I try to copy it. The op-portunity to train with them has in-spired me and motivated me a lot.What I learned there I still do it when Ido extra drills.”

When asked to describe himself as aplayer, he says that he thinks that he isa versatile player. He is capable ofguarding any position including guystaller and smaller than him. He saysthat he can create mismatches. Butmost of all, he is a very coachable play-er, able to give whatever his teamneeds.

Salva’s admiration for his currentcoach becomes apparent when talksabout his future goals.

“Five years from now, I hope I willbe in PBA. Coach Norman, I love him.He’s going to be a coach of Talk N’Text.I’d love to be with him,” he said. “Ifnot, I’ll be happy with any team who’llhave me and who will use me.”

He hopes to join the PBA draft nextyear. For the guy who made his coachproud, anything is possible.

TRADITIONALAteneo bonfireand fireworks.

NICO SALVA delivers. FACEBOOK

“Aside from the guy who never lost the championship, I want to be remem-

AU

GU

STD

ELA

CRU

Z

OCTOBER 18-25, 2012

5

This Tiger’s a giant

Instead, he managed to suck it up andproudly smile whenever he looked up at theThomasian crowd. He would wave at his fansbearing posters of his name. As his team leavesthe court after receiving their medals, thecrowd would chant “For-tu-na, For-tu-na.”

“Dun talaga ako medyo nalungkot. Nungmakita ko si Jeric. Siyempre bunso namin yan.Hind man lang siya nakaranas ng champi-onship,” says former UST cager Khasim Mirza.

He contributed a third of the total score ofthe team on the last game. He made 20 points,8 rebounds, and 6 assists. What the statisticswill never show was how the veteran pointguard fought hard and refused to lose.

“Gusto ko talagang kunin yung panalongyun. I didn’t want it to be my last game,” saysFortuna.

The Thomasian community loved him andhe loved them back. But it didn’t start out thatway.

Coach Pido Jarencio saw his potential andoffered him a spot in his team after he gradu-ated from the’07 champion De La Salle ZobelJunior Archers. He offered Fortuna scholarship,hospital benefits and a lineup on the Team A.

He was recruited as a replacement for an in-jured Japs Cuan. Expectations were high but itproved to be too much for him.The heavy responsibility ofleading the team on court wasplaced on his young shoulderstoo early.

Even Jarencio was notspared from criticisms for hischoice of point guard. TheTiger’s coach, however, re-mained steadfast on givinghis support and the timeFortuna needs to ad-just and adapt. Thecoach’s decisionproved to be theright one.

“I did my best.Rough yung first

few years ko. Medyo panget ang mga laro ko. Iwanted to prove the doubters wrong,” saysFortuna.

Jarencio’s faith in him will pay off on histhird year when his potential started to be-come a reality. It showed in the numbers heturned up for his team.

The love affair with the Thomasian commu-nity also started to blossom around this time.Slowly, they would discover that the quiet boywho keeps to himself and appears snobbish isactually a very likeable guy.

He is the kind of boy who would give up hisday to wrap food in banana leaves and deliverit to typhoon victims. He is the type of playerwho would be friends with everyone, includingthe water boys from the other teams.

Of course, his boy-next-door charms madegirls make a beeline for him. His witty state-ments in Twitter (@jericfortuna) are almost al-ways retweeted.

He says that there are no regrets on hispart. He loved being a Thomasian and the at-tention he got from them.

He only wished that he had been more ag-gressive than he was for the sake of the team.He wished that he made more shots on theirbehalf.

“I wanted my teammates to get more in-volved. Kung marami silang nagsoscore, masmahirap kaming bantayan,” he explains.

Fortuna is positive that his team is still acontender next year. He wants his teammatesto live the moment while they still can. Hesays time flies so fast in UAAP.

“I will miss his way of leading us.He is not the vocal type of leader

but he shows us what he wantsby practicing hard,” says histeammate Jeric Teng. “As afriend, I will miss his jokesand laughs. His presencejust gives the team more

fun.”Fortuna will leave

his alma mater with-out becoming apart of a champi-on team. But the5’7” Tiger willalways be a gi-ant in thehearts of hisfans.

UST’s Abdulback to lessonsBy Randolph B. Leongson

THIS season was supposed tobe a vindication for Karim Ab-dul.

Disqualified in last season’sMythical Five selection afterincurring two unsportsmanlikefouls, the Cameroonian stilllooked back on that event assomething which he alreadyhad in the bag, but was takenaway from him.

“I still think it’s unfair (forthem to call that foul on me),”Abdul said early in the season.

But he worked hard andused it as a motivation to dobetter this season.

And dominate, he did.The 6-foot-6 Abdul broke

loose this season, leading thecharge for the balanced USTattack. He, along with teamcaptain Jeric Fortuna, gunnersJeric Teng, Aljon Mariano, andClark Bautista, and hard-nosed defender Kevin Ferrer,steered the Tigers as they fin-ished the eliminations with a10-4 record, good for numbertwo in the standings and atwice-to-beat advantage in theFinal Four.

He finished fourth in scor-ing at 16.9 points per game.Owning the best scoring aver-age in this year’s crop of bigmen, he is just behind prolificBobby Ray Parks of NU (20.7points per game.

The Cameroonian ownedthe boards by being theleague leader in both offen-sive (5.5 offensive reboundsper game) and defensive (6.7rebounds per game) rebound-ing. His 12.2 rebounding aver-age is only followed by Na-tional U’s Emmanuel Mbe at11.5 boards per outing.

Coach Pido Jarencio’s mainman in the middle displayedhis mastery in the paint whenhe had a season-high of 21boards, when they faced theUP Fighting Maroons in thefirst round of the eliminations.

Abdul tied Parks in thesteals department, each having1.5 thefts per game, and is alsothe second-best in blockedshots with two erasures perouting, behind Ateneo big manGreg Slaughter’s 2.9.

He also dished 1.9 assistsper game, and had an impres-sive shooting clip both at thefield (47.1%) and at the foulline (65.6%).

With all of that accounted,he finally managed a crack inthe Mythical Five, but barelymissed the Most ValuablePlayer award by 1.0714 statis-tical points (SPs) against thetwo-time MVP Parks.

Bestowed with the distinc-tion, the Cameroonian re-mained focused on the task athand, opting to be silent.Their dream all season longhanged in the balance of thelone game later that Octoberafternoon.

But as tough as destinywould write it, Abdul’s secondseason would furthermore in-tertwine with him with thenumber two.

The Ateneo Blue Eaglesswept the UST GrowlingTigers in their UAAP Finalsencounter in two games, thefirst time the Tigers had atwo-game losing streak thisseason.

With the Eagles celebratingtheir fulfilled dynasty, Abdulremained at the bench with atowel draped upon his headas the blue and white confettifell from the heavens.

In the dugout, the toweringbig man remained silent, frus-trated as they saw all the sea-son’s work go up in the air inthe unwanted scent of defeat,as the boys in blue and whitecelebrated like there was notomorrow.

Abdul can’t even muster aword to say. Again, he fin-ished number two.

The soft-spoken big manwill still play hoops, withBlackwater Sports acquiringsix of UST’s core, includingAbdul, in the PBA D-League.But more importantly, he willreturn to his InformationTechnology lessons with hisgreen file case in tow, ponder-ing what would next seasonprovide.

For now, all is up in the air,as Abdul hopes that in hisnext year - his third year -third time would be thecharm.

ATENEO’Spremier playmakerKiefer Ravena (left)consoles Fortuna.

RUTH NAVARRA

OCTOBER 18-25, 2012

By Ruth L. Navarra

J ERIC Fortuna was almost in tearswhen the UST Growling Tigerslost the championship to the Ate-neo Blue Eagles. Almost.

6

Norman weaves old BlackMagic one last time

By Patrick Leonard Mayo

I N COLLEGE BASKETBALL, players graduate, sys-tems get tweaked, and as far as coaches go, theyare either replaced or they choose move on to oth-

er coaching jobs. But what matters is the legacy thatthey leave behind.

And as Coach Norman Blackleaves the UAAP to return tothe pro league, his legacy withAteneo is nothing short of stel-lar and could even be consid-ered legendary.

Apart from steering the BlueEagles to an unprecedented fivestraight titles in the final fourera, he leaves behind an im-pressive 110-26 win-loss recordand a good number of playerswhose skills were honed andcharacters were built.

But the multi-titled PBA andUAAP coach who often veeredaway from the spotlight neverdreamed that something thisbig would happen to him.

“I never dreamed of winning

five straight championships any-where, let alone in Ateneo,”said Black. “My first three yearswere pretty frustrating years.

But every now and then, agroup of young and talentedguys will get to play along witheach other, like what happenedin UST in the 1990’s, and wejust had to make them blend alltheir talents and come out as avery strong team.”

Despite lording it over theleague over the last five years,Black acknowledged that everyyear that passed becametougher and tougher for him.

“With each championship,the next year becomes more dif-ficult. The other teams become

a lot better and it’s like youhave a target in your chest thatevery opponent brings their A-game against you. It is also dif-ficult to motivate the sameplayers to win again since thereis a tendency to relax, takethings for granted and some-times become a little bit of’mayabang.’ It really takes aspecial group of players for youto be able to motivate them forfive straight years.” said Black.

He also believes that in theirfive title conquests, certainplayers stepped up and servedas the anchor that got themover the hump.

“In our first championship, itwas Chris Tiu and his leader-ship, in our second it was reallythe dominance of Rabeh Al-Hus-saini and the defensive talent ofNonoy Baclao. In our third year,it was really more of a team ef-fort and Eric Salamat’s emotion-al leadership and in the fourth, alot of our success came in the

addition of Kiefer (Ravena) and(Greg) Slaughter.”

“But this year was probablythe most unselfish team I’vehad. I had a lot of players whocould win individual awards ifthey were on other teams but

instead everybody had the atti-tude to just do whatever ittakes to win, because in theend, if we win, everybody willbe a hero and that takes a veryunselfish group to be able to ac-complish that,” he ended.

THE triumphant Ateneo Blue Eagles and their supporters savor the moment. AUGUST DELA CRUZ

COACH Black (right) with his deputies, calls the shot at TNT in thePBA. AUGUST DELA CRUZ

OCTOBER 18-25, 2012

7

LIBRA

VIRGO

LEO

CANCER

GEMINI

TAURUS

ARIES

PISCES

AQUARIUS

CAPRICORN

SAGITTARIUS

SCORPIO

Love: Y Career: PMoney:‘

YYMalabo ang resolution

ng love life ninyo

‘‘‘Fake mong pabango,30 mins lang tatagal

PPPPNgayon pa lang,

mag-train na ng maigi

YYYMarami ka pa dapatpatunayan sa kanya

‘‘‘Pansamantalang

solusyon lang umutang

PPPPHuwag makibarkadasa mga taong nega

YYYBa’t ganun? Amoysiyang barbecue

‘‘‘‘Don’t worry, may dagdagna sa allowance ninyo

PPPPOk lang ma-pressure

ka, magaling ka naman

YYYHindi bagay mga matamo at mga mata niya

‘‘‘Investment talaga ang

magandang shoes

PPDi ka cool hangga’t di

mo alam mag-gungnam

YYHabang lumalapit,

pa-hipon ng pa-hipon

‘‘‘‘‘Huwag maging selfish,mag-share ka naman

PPBumalik ka na lang uli

ng high school

YRacist siya, ayaw niyasa kapwa niya Pinoy

‘‘Lalaki gastos mo safood kasi tatakaw ka

PPPDaig ng matiyaga ang

tamad na talentado

YYYMatatalo ka ng

girlfriend mo sa FlipTop

‘‘‘‘Paghandaan gastos sa

isang medical procedure

PPPPPUnfair man decisions,ikaw pa rin mananalo

YYYYKung mahal mo siya,isampay labada niya

‘Kaya mo pa pero

pagod na wallet mo

PPPPMeron kang what it

takes to be a champ

YYDon’t panic, di siya

buntis, kabag lang yan

‘‘‘‘Bili na ng washing

machine para sa team

PPIreklamo mo na

ang facilities ninyo

YYYWala kang makikitang

masama sa kanya..weh!

‘‘Yayaman ka kung

gagamitin mo utak mo

PPPHuwag mapipikon sapang-aalaska ng fans

YYYMay potensyal relasyonninyo kaya magpraktis

‘‘‘‘Kailangan din ng

protection equipment

PPMahirap. Mahirap

talaga. Maempatso.

YYYYYHindi na bawal angpag-ibig na ganyan

‘‘‘Ilang araw na lang maybagong gadget ka na

PPPPKailangan improve mo

stamina mo

Bilog ang Bola Ni Hormel Delata

Editor in ChiefChito dF. dela Vega

Desk editorsDennis U. EroaFrancis Ochoa

Romel M. LalataGraphic artist

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part, without its prior consent.

UST GROWLING TIGERS

Back to hunting

Next season, the boys ofCoach Pido Jarencio will havetheir claws polished and fangssharpened, assuring the packwill never go hungry again.

And so, for the Tigers, thehunt continues.

Moving on“Kulang siguro namin this

season is consistency,” admit-ted Aljon Mariano, who justcame back to play for UST af-ter suffering from an injury.“Dapat mag-move on na ka-mi at i-improve pa naminang lahat next season.”

The painful finals sweepby the Blue Eagles taught theEspana-based squad to workharder and hopefully, relive

the glory of 2006 soon.” “Titibayan pa namin ang

offense at lalo na ang de-fense,” said junior Kim Lo.“Everyone can expect 100%effort from me and the restof the team.”

Farewell, captainSkipper Jeric Fortuna also

bids his farewell after spend-ing five years with the Tigers.

“It was a great last yearfor me because I was able tolead my team to the finals,”said the playmaker Fortuna.“It was my first time to be inthe finals so I thankful wereached this far.”

He also shared what he’llmiss most is the fueled and

energetic UST crowd and thecompetitive atmosphere ofthe games.

“Mabait siya, responsiblemadali lapitan, supportiveand encouraging,” said Lowhen asked to describe For-tuna. “Walang masama abouthim. Very good na captain.”

Fortuna will be replacedby gunner Jeric Teng withClark Bautista as assistantcaptain.

HungrierSince the Tigers’ appetites

are left unsatisfied, expectthat they will be hungrierand fiercer next season.

“Pangako, babalik kaminext year na mas malakas,mas determined at masgutom,” said Marano.“Gagawin namin ang lahatpara matupad ang brokenpromise namin this year.”

Though the Tigers hadtheir hearts broken this year,they will comeback with abig roar next season.

By Alexx Esponga

T HOUGH the University of Santo TomasGrowling Tigers weren’t able to gobble themighty Ateneo de Manila University Blue

Eagles and home the bacon, the Tigers are readyto start anew.

BIG roar for UST next season. AUGUST DELA CRUZ

OCTOBER 18-25, 2012

8

KNIGHTS BATTLE STAGS

NC finalists chase history

By Cedelf P. Tupas

MORE than the championship of the88th NCAA basketball season, men’sbasketball finalists San Beda and Le-tran are chasing history and the brag-ging rights as the school with the mosttitles in the country’s oldest league.

Tied with 16 titlesapiece, the Lions andthe Knights clashThursday in Game 1of their best-of-threeseries at Mall of AsiaArena in Pasay.

Interestingly, thetwo teams are meet-ing for only the thirdtime in the finals withLetran and San Bedawinning one each.

Letran’s last cham-pionship came in2005 and since thenthe Knights havewatched the Lionsclaw their way to tietheir record.

The Lions sweptthe Knights in the2007 finals—the sec-ond title of a terrificrun over the past sixyears that saw themwin five champi-onships.

“Its our entire bas-ketball tradition andcommunity pridethat’s at stake in thisfinals,” said Letranathletic director andNCAA managementcommittee chair Fr.Vic Calvo at the PSAForum yesterday.

“We foresee this

series as very emo-tional; it will also beabout braggingrights.”

“This series is go-ing to be one for thebooks,” said San Bedateam manager JudeRoque in the sessionpresented by Pagcorand Shakey’s. “It’smore than just agame.”

While San Bedabeat Letran twice inthe eliminations,Roque feels it won’tcount for anything inthe finals.

“The two winsover Letran doesn’tmatter anymore; theyare a different teamnow,” said Roque.

The Knightsclimbed from as lowas eighth spot in thefirst round, reachingthe Final Four on theback of a seven-gamewinning run. Focusedand motivated, theKnights ousted theSan Sebastian Stagsin two games, mark-ing the first time in10 years that a No. 3seed pulled the rugfrom under the No. 2.

LETRANstalwart KevinAlas (left) willlead theKnights.

AUGUST DELA CRUZ

OCTOBER 18-25, 2012