HIGHLIGHTS: Ateneo vs UP, UAAP Season 84 Finals Game 1 – May 8

UP a win away from historic UAAP crown

UP inched closer to claiming a historic UAAP championship as the Fighting Maroons hacked out a grind-out Game 1 win over the Ateneo Blue Eagles, 81-74, in overtime in the Season 84 men’s basketball finals on Sunday, May 8.

The Maroons last won a crown in 1986.

(READ: Miracle Maroons strike again vs Ateneo, move closer to historic UAAP title)

Preview

One day before the fate of the Philippines’ leadership will be decided upon, the fate of the UAAP Season 84 men’s basketball tournament will also take shape at the Mall of Asia Arena on Sunday, May 8.

The three-time defending champion Ateneo Blue Eagles, fresh off their fourth Final Four ouster of the FEU Tamaraws in five seasons, take on the all-heart UP Fighting Maroons, who are coming off a miraculous 14-point turnaround to stun the La Salle Green Archers out of finals contention.

Although this is the second meeting of the two Katipunan neighbors in the last three finals series, a lot has changed between the two contending squads.

Gone are the Ravenas, Nietos, Desiderios, and Gomez de Liaños from the league’s cream of the crop, and now, new stars like Dave Ildefonso, SJ Belangel, Carl Tamayo, and Zavier Lucero have taken over for a change.

Staying on the topic of changes, the loaded Maroons now have something no team in the last four years can boast of: a win over Ateneo.

All UAAP teams have fallen multiple times to the mighty, Tab Baldwin-led Eagles, but it is the Goldwin Monteverde-coached Maroons who finally solved the Ateneo puzzle last Sunday, May 1, with a shocking 84-83 escape to snap a 39-game winning streak.

Will the elite Eagles ensure not to make the same mistake twice to kick off the finals, or will the miraculous Maroons make more believers out of their title-hungry fans?

Game 1 tips off at 4 pm. (SCHEDULE: UAAP Season 84 men’s basketball)

– Rappler.com