After 36 years, the UP Fighting Maroons went from creating bonfires for trivial pursuits to basically destroying Ateneo's supposedly perfect season.
The last time State U won a title, Benjie Paras had a full set of hair, Ronnie Magsanoc had a full set of black hair, and...
Japeth Aguilar hasn't been born yet?
I wanted to do something UP-related but I have been staring at my monitor for far too long.
Anyway, JD Cagulangan brought the house down with a booming triple with less than three ticks remaining.
The Letran Knights must be scared right now. They are in no other way to say it, the NCAA's version of the Ateneo Blue Eagles with their immaculate record on the line against the championship-hungry Mapua Cardinals.
The 6-time NCAA champions started their rampage after ousting the James Kwekuteye-led San Beda Red Lions and are now out to take down the defending champions.
With this in mind, there is also some sort of UP-Letran connection in the form of former UST Tigers. CJ Cansino nailed the game-tying triple to send Game 3 into overtime and the tandem of Rhenz Abando and Brent Paraiso has been helping the Knights in their quest to claim their third title in six seasons.
Gotta admit - I'm happy that the UP Fighting Maroons won after the 50-point beatdown Ateneo gave to my UST. With that said, UP basically made Ateneo angry for flubbing their supposed flawless record at the end of the elimination round, and instead of going full metal mayhem, UP got the better of the Eagles in Game 1. Of course, Ateneo would bounce the hell back in Game 2 and it is expected that Game 3 would be insane...
... but this is a whole breed of awesomeness.
Cansino played walking wounded and still made the key plays. Meanwhile, Cagulangan was able to score the buckets, give out the passes, and made his teammates look good.
And nothing makes a man dry than his favorite sports team striking a Hail Mary.
Anyway, congrats UP.