It takes the heart to win
By Carla Patricia Perez
t doesn’t take a hardcore, passionate basketball fan or a professional game analyst to get hooked to the UAAP, follow collegiate basketball, and adore the UST Growling Tigers; it only takes a true-blooded Thomasian with genuine, overflowing school spirit.
The Growling Tigers has not won a championship since 2006. It was a Cinderella story for them back then—they lost to Ateneo de Manila University in Game 1 via a Doug Kramer buzzer-beating lay-in after a Maki Escalona pitch off a sideline inbound, but went on to win the last two games to clinch the title and pull off an upset.
This year was almost a repeat of 2006, almost.
Only this season, Ateneo swept UST, 2-0, and denied the España-based cagers a déjà vu-like championship.
It was the closest the Tigers came to another title, it was one of those so-near-yet-so-far moments when all you can do is take a long, deep sigh—not of relief but of grief.
Critics and analysts alike counted UST out before Season 75 started and claimed the team could only land a fourth or even fifth-place finish. Nobody thought they would be title contenders, nobody except outgoing Ateneo head coach Norman Black.
For a team most people considered underdogs, a four-peat-gone-five coach’s expressed wariness of them being a threat is quite a big deal. And the Tigers proved him right.
Black considered Clutch Cat Aljon Mariano the biggest thorn to Ateneo’s ‘drive for five.’ The seasoned coach’s prophecy became reality whole season long, until Game 2 of the finals when Mariano scored only four points and missed countless baskets. Mariano was known to make big shots in crunch time—when it mattered most—but was limited by Ateneo’s stifling defense in the most important duel of the season, and probably his entire basketball career.
The Growling Tigers rising from being underdogs to almost denying Ateneo its five-peat was sweet, yet the feeling of almost reaching the top only to fall short in the end was the bitterest.
But the Tigers did not endure the heartbreak alone; the Thomasian community was behind them all the way. It was declared Yellow Day in UST last Oct. 10. Students, faculty, and staff sported canary-shaded shirts. The atmosphere was uplifting, especially to the wounded but fighting Tigers, who expressed appreciation of the University’s gesture.
“Great to see a lot of students in yellow here in campus. All out support! Thank you! Let us do this together!,” co-captain Jeric Teng posted on Twitter.
For the Growling Tigers, capping Season 75 with a runner-up trophy meant it has come to an end, but for captain Jeric Fortuna and Melo Afuang, the closing of the season also meant the conclusion of their collegiate basketball careers.
It may be time for farewell, but Afuang said his five-year journey has been ‘wonderful’ and thanked the Thomasian community for its unwavering support.
“I will surely miss the UST crowd. MARAMING SALAMAT Thomasian community. It has been a wonderful journey, those 5 years are worth it,” Afuang posted on Twitter.
For Fortuna, it was also more of thank you’s than goodbyes, and a voyage ‘without regrets.’
“Thank you to God, my family, my teammates, my coaches, my friends, my classmates, my professors, my supporters, and my doubters! Thank you so much to the whole UST community! You guys have molded me into a better person on and off the court, and I wouldn't be where I am now without all of you. I gave my best and I have no regrets,” Fortuna posted on Facebook.
It may not have been another Cinderella story for the Tigers, but not all real-life fairytales are bound to have happy endings—not all happy endings happen when you expect them to—some wait around for a perfect time.
It doesn’t take an excellent basketball IQ to understand that with the Tigers’ beyond-expectations-pushing-limits performance this season, they will be growling louder and prowling hungrier next year. The title will have to wait another time.
After all, ‘Relive ’06 in Season 76’ sounds better, more fitting.
t doesn’t take a hardcore, passionate basketball fan or a professional game analyst to get hooked to the UAAP, follow collegiate basketball, and adore the UST Growling Tigers; it only takes a true-blooded Thomasian with genuine, overflowing school spirit.
The Growling Tigers has not won a championship since 2006. It was a Cinderella story for them back then—they lost to Ateneo de Manila University in Game 1 via a Doug Kramer buzzer-beating lay-in after a Maki Escalona pitch off a sideline inbound, but went on to win the last two games to clinch the title and pull off an upset.
This year was almost a repeat of 2006, almost.
Only this season, Ateneo swept UST, 2-0, and denied the España-based cagers a déjà vu-like championship.
It was the closest the Tigers came to another title, it was one of those so-near-yet-so-far moments when all you can do is take a long, deep sigh—not of relief but of grief.
Critics and analysts alike counted UST out before Season 75 started and claimed the team could only land a fourth or even fifth-place finish. Nobody thought they would be title contenders, nobody except outgoing Ateneo head coach Norman Black.
For a team most people considered underdogs, a four-peat-gone-five coach’s expressed wariness of them being a threat is quite a big deal. And the Tigers proved him right.
Black considered Clutch Cat Aljon Mariano the biggest thorn to Ateneo’s ‘drive for five.’ The seasoned coach’s prophecy became reality whole season long, until Game 2 of the finals when Mariano scored only four points and missed countless baskets. Mariano was known to make big shots in crunch time—when it mattered most—but was limited by Ateneo’s stifling defense in the most important duel of the season, and probably his entire basketball career.
The Growling Tigers rising from being underdogs to almost denying Ateneo its five-peat was sweet, yet the feeling of almost reaching the top only to fall short in the end was the bitterest.
But the Tigers did not endure the heartbreak alone; the Thomasian community was behind them all the way. It was declared Yellow Day in UST last Oct. 10. Students, faculty, and staff sported canary-shaded shirts. The atmosphere was uplifting, especially to the wounded but fighting Tigers, who expressed appreciation of the University’s gesture.
“Great to see a lot of students in yellow here in campus. All out support! Thank you! Let us do this together!,” co-captain Jeric Teng posted on Twitter.
For the Growling Tigers, capping Season 75 with a runner-up trophy meant it has come to an end, but for captain Jeric Fortuna and Melo Afuang, the closing of the season also meant the conclusion of their collegiate basketball careers.
It may be time for farewell, but Afuang said his five-year journey has been ‘wonderful’ and thanked the Thomasian community for its unwavering support.
“I will surely miss the UST crowd. MARAMING SALAMAT Thomasian community. It has been a wonderful journey, those 5 years are worth it,” Afuang posted on Twitter.
For Fortuna, it was also more of thank you’s than goodbyes, and a voyage ‘without regrets.’
“Thank you to God, my family, my teammates, my coaches, my friends, my classmates, my professors, my supporters, and my doubters! Thank you so much to the whole UST community! You guys have molded me into a better person on and off the court, and I wouldn't be where I am now without all of you. I gave my best and I have no regrets,” Fortuna posted on Facebook.
It may not have been another Cinderella story for the Tigers, but not all real-life fairytales are bound to have happy endings—not all happy endings happen when you expect them to—some wait around for a perfect time.
It doesn’t take an excellent basketball IQ to understand that with the Tigers’ beyond-expectations-pushing-limits performance this season, they will be growling louder and prowling hungrier next year. The title will have to wait another time.
After all, ‘Relive ’06 in Season 76’ sounds better, more fitting.