UAAP Season 73 men's basketball tournament

The UAAP Season 73 men's basketball tournament is the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP)'s men's basketball tournament for the 2010–11 season.

UAAP Season 73

Host school	De La Salle University
Men's Finals G1 G2 Wins  FEU Tamaraws 49 62 0  Ateneo Blue Eagles 72 65 2
Duration	September 25–30, 2010
Arena(s)	Araneta Coliseum
Finals MVP	Ryan Buenafe
Winning coach	Norman Black (3rd title)
Semifinalists	Adamson Soaring Falcons  De La Salle Green Archers
TV network(s)	ABS-CBN, Studio 23, The Filipino Channel, Balls HD
< Season 72 2010 Season 74 >

The Ateneo Blue Eagles won against the FEU Tamaraws in the finals, winning in two games. Ateneo blew out FEU in the first game, and hanged on in the second game to clinch their third consecutive title. Ryan Buenafe, who scored a crucial three-point shot late in Game 2, was named Finals MVP. In the semifinals, FEU defeated the De La Salle Green Archers in overtime on their semifinal match-up, while Ateneo blew out the Adamson Falcons in the other semifinal.

The UP Fighting Maroons finished the season with no victories for the second time in four years; their coach Aboy Castro went on leave after incurring their second consecutive loss, and new coach Boyet Fernandez led the team to twelve more defeats to end the season with a 0–14 record. Fernandez tendered his courtesy resignation to university officials after the last game of the season^[1]

Sophomore Ryan Roose "RR" Garcia and freshman Terrence Romeo, both from FEU, were named most valuable player and rookie of the year, respectively.^[2]

Teams

Team	School	Coach
Adamson Soaring Falcons	Adamson University	Leo Austria
Ateneo Blue Eagles	Ateneo de Manila University	Norman Black
De La Salle Green Archers	De La Salle University	Dindo Pumaren
FEU Tamaraws	Far Eastern University	Glenn Capacio
NU Bulldogs	National University	Eric Gonzales
UE Red Warriors	University of the East	Lawrence Chongson
UP Fighting Maroons	University of the Philippines Diliman	Boyet Fernandez
UST Growling Tigers	University of Santo Tomas	Pido Jarencio

Coaching changes

Coaching changes

Team	Old coach	Reason	New coach	Old position
Preseason
La Salle	Franz Pumaren	Resigned	Dindo Pumaren	La Salle assistant coach
NU	Manny Dandan	Fired	Eric Gonzales	NU assistant coach
During the season
UP^[3]	Aboy Castro	Filed indefinite leave of absence	Boyet Fernandez	UP consultant

Preseason

Two teams entered the season with new coaches.

After missing the semifinals for the first time, Franz Pumaren resigned as head coach of the De La Salle Green Archers, after which he announced his intention to run for Congressman of Quezon City's 3rd district. His brother, assistant coach Dindo Pumaren and former head coach of the UE Red Warriors is his replacement.^[4]

The NU Bulldogs terminated head coach Manny Dandan's contract after leading the team to a 3–11 finish the previous year.^[5] Meanwhile, the Manila Bulletin reported that UST Growling Tigers head coach Pido Jarencio was fired,^[6] although the university later issued a statement that he is remaining as head coach until at least January 2011. NU was reportedly wooing Jarencio to be their head coach, although NU clarified that it was only a rumor.^[7] NU ultimately decided to promote assistant coach Eric Gonzales as the new head coach, with advice from new consultant Eric Altamirano.^[8]

In preseason warmup tournaments, the FEU Tamaraws was defeated by NCAA champion San Sebastian Stags 79–78 in the Filoil Flying V First Five Preseason Invitational Cup final,^[9] while the Ateneo Blue Eagles defeated the Mapua Cardinals in the Father Martin's Cup final, 68–64.^[10]

Prior to the season, FEU and defending champion Ateneo were ranked the teams to beat; UE were targeting for a championship, and La Salle was low-key as Pumaren touted his roster as the "youngest in the season." Jarencio remained modest as UST was ranked eighth (last). Adamson and NU aimed to be recognized as "contenders." UP coach Aboy Castro commented that while general consensus dictates that Ateneo and FEU were locked in the top two spots, "it will be tough to get into the 3rd and 4th slot." Furthermore, Finals will be aired in ABS-CBN Channel 2.^[11]

Elimination round

Most games were held at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City and the PhilSports Arena in Pasig, with a single gameday played at Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan.

Team standings

Pos	Team	W	L	PCT	GB	Qualification
1	FEU Tamaraws	12	2	.857	—	Twice-to-beat in the semifinals
2	Ateneo Blue Eagles	10	4	.714	2
3	Adamson Soaring Falcons	9	5	.643	3	Twice-to-win in the semifinals
4	De La Salle Green Archers (H)	8	6	.571	4
5	NU Bulldogs	7	7	.500	5
6	UE Red Warriors	6	8	.429	6
7	UST Growling Tigers	4	10	.286	8
8	UP Fighting Maroons	0	14	.000	12

Source: ABS-CBN Sports
Rules for classification: 1) winning percentage; 2) if tied for #2 or #4, one-game playoff; 3) head-to-head record; 4) head-to-head point differential; 5) overall point differential
(H) Hosts

Match-up results

	Round 1							Round 2
Team ╲ Game	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14
Adamson
Ateneo
La Salle
FEU
NU
UE
UP
UST

Source:^{[citation needed]}
  = Win;   = OT win;   = Loss;   = OT loss

Results

Team	AdU	ADMU	DLSU	FEU	NU	UE	UP	UST
Adamson Soaring Falcons		66–69	70–68	65–74	60–54	69–56	66–59	75–71
Ateneo Blue Eagles	55–52		63–66	69–72	82–65	80–73	78–53	68–56
De La Salle Green Archers	64–69	57–74		80–84**	55–59	82–63	80–62	61–53
FEU Tamaraws	63–64	74–72	66–80		76–72	91–81	94–70	65–57
NU Bulldogs	62–59	49–69	56–59	62–77		70–63	70–66	58–59
UE Red Warriors	71–63	62–60	80–74	77–83*	68–69		59–54	67–80
UP Fighting Maroons	51–74	59–75	63–84	48–70	59–61	61–67		81–87*
UST Growling Tigers	76–81**	77–81	69–78	76–67	54–62	65–75	68–66

Source:^{[citation needed]}
Legend: Blue = left column team win; Red = top row team win.
Matches with lighter background shading were decided after overtime.

First round

After the opening ceremonies hosted by La Salle, their varsity team blew out UP in the opening game, reminiscent of the opening game blow out during the 2007 tournament where State U finished with a 0–14 record. In the second game, UST won over UE, on what was said to be an upset win over last year's runners-up.^[12] Adamson won over NU the next day, and what was rated to be an early match-up of the top two teams, FEU won over Ateneo in a tight contest.^[13] FEU won their next six games, sweeping the elimination round;^[14] Ateneo on the other hand, after winning another tight game against Adamson,^[15] finished second after the first round; their own other loss coming from their arch rivals La Salle, in which the Green Archers capitalized on Kirk Long going to the bench in the final minutes after fouling out.^[16] The referees of the Adamson-Ateneo game were later suspended for errant calls that cost Adamson the game.^[17]

Adamson came back after their loss against Ateneo and won two straight against UP^[18] and UST.^[19] After the loss to Adamson, UP head coach Aboy Castro filed for an indefinite leave of absence from the squad; team consultant Boyet Fernandez was then appointed as interim head coach.^[20] On UP's next game, UST was saved by Jeric Fortuna's three-point shots to force overtime and defeat UP.^[21]

UE was unable to secure wins against FEU^[21] and NU, while the Bulldogs also suffered a loss against the Tamaraws,^[18] before winning against UE.^[22] They were beaten anew by UST in another close game,^[23] while the Tigers themselves lost to the Green Archers^[24] and Tamaraws to cap off their first round with a 3–4 record.^[14] UP was still unable to win against UE (which won their first game of the season against them)^[25] and Ateneo.^[26]

La Salle ended their first round with two-point loss against Adamson, which made the Falcons within striking distance from FEU and Ateneo in the standings. Ateneo finished the first round with a triumph against last year's Finals nemesis UE in a close game until the Eagles pulled away late in the fourth quarter.^[27]

Second round

The Tigers opened the second round with another loss, this time against UE; this led to the two teams being tied with 3–5 records. In the next game, Adamson cut FEU's 7-game winning streak with a one-point loss against Adamson. This assured that there will be no "stepladder" format during the playoffs. Ateneo extended their three-game winning streak to four games after a blowout win against the Fighting Maroons; UP then had a record of 0–8.

La Salle split their season series against NU with a win to move past the .500 barrier. FEU was brought to another close game, this time against UE, but the Tamaraws were able to defeat the Red Warriors via overtime to notch their first second round win. Off from their win against FEU, Adamson needed two overtime periods to win over UST. The loss effectively close the door for a semifinal appearance for the Tigers.

La Salle and Ateneo had similar wins against UP and NU, respectively, with La Salle winning by 21 points while Ateneo won by twenty.

Off from their win against FEU, and a double-overtime win against UST, Adamson was upset by UE, which by then had two wins in nine games. FEU won over UST, which then had lost five consecutive games, to remain first and clinch the first semifinal berth. Adamson then won against UP, their 11th consecutive loss. The Red Warriors, which had to win all of their remaining games to have shot at the Final Four, shocked Ateneo in what could be a start of an improbable playoff run.

NU won over UP by two points after a controversial non-call by the referees. Fighting Maroon Mark Juruena had earlier been called for five consecutive lane violations with UP trailing by two points with 1.2 seconds left; UP coach Boyet Fernandez instructed Juruena to deliberately cross the lane while NU's Jewel Ponferrada was attempting his free-throw hoping to tempt NU to do the same act and force a double lane violation (subsequently a jump ball at center court, the possession arrow rule is suspended during the last two minutes of a game); the referees did not call the violation and UP coach Fernandez rushed to commissioner Badolato afterward to plead his case.^[28] In their rivalry game against Ateneo, La Salle came up short as Ateneo won, 74–57.

UST extended UP's woes with another close game, and ended their own five-game losing streak. Off from a loss against Ateneo, La Salle had an upset win against FEU. In what was an elimination game for UE if they lose, UE had their two-game winning run snapped by NU, which then eliminated the Red Warriors from contention.

With their last 25 games against Ateneo all losing efforts, Adamson had to win against the Eagles in order to have a realistic chance for a twice-to-beat advantage; however, Ateneo held on to the win, but not after Jumbo Escueta was ejected when a patch fell off his shorts, rendering his uniform dissimilar to his teammates. With the win, Ateneo clinched a semifinals berth.^[29]

FEU won against NU, while La Salle outlasted UST to remain in the top two teams in the standings. In a last-ditch attempt to secure at least a playoff for a twice-to-beat advantage, La Salle was beaten by also-ran UE; Adamson also suffered the same fate, losing to NU to clinch FEU and Ateneo the twice-to-win advantages. FEU then won against UP, their thirteenth loss in the season, and Ateneo won over UST to set up a virtual game for the #1 seed.

UST ended the season with another loss, this time against NU. This placed NU on the .500 mark, and gave UST coach Pido Jarencio his worst finish as a UAAP head coach. In a virtual playoff for the #3 seed, Adamson won by five points to relegate La Salle to the #4 seed. UE ended the season in a two-game winning streak, beating UP. UP finished the season winless, and had their 18th consecutive loss, including games from the previous season. FEU won over Ateneo after Terrence Romeo and RR Garcia scored on a deciding 8–0 run to lead FEU to victory.

Bracket

	Semifinals (Nos. 1 & 2 have twice-to-beat advantage)					Finals (Best-of-three series)
	1	FEU	69*
	4	La Salle	59
						1	FEU	49	62
						2	Ateneo	72	65
	2	Ateneo	68
	3	Adamson	55

Semifinals

FEU and Ateneo have the twice-to-beat advantage. They only have to win once, while their opponents, twice, to progress.

FEU vs. La Salle

Studio 23

September 16 4:00 p.m.

FEU Tamaraws	69–59 (OT)	De La Salle Green Archers
Scoring by quarter: 20–12, 6–20, 14–12, 15–11, Overtime: 14–4
Pts: Romeo, Sanga 12 each Rebs: Reil Cervantes 19 Asts: Aldrech Ramos 3		Pts: Joshua Webb 15 Rebs: Maui Villanueva 13 Asts: Simon Atkins 4
FEU wins series in one game

Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City

Ateneo vs. Adamson

Studio 23

September 19 4:00 p.m.

Ateneo Blue Eagles	68–55	Adamson Soaring Falcons
Scoring by quarter: 22–12, 17–17, 21–13, 8–13
Pts: Emman Monfort 22 Rebs: Ryan Buenafe 9 Asts: Eric Salamat 5		Pts: Lester Alvarez 11 Rebs: Lionel Manyara 8 Asts: Alvarez, Canada 2 each
Ateneo wins series in one game

Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City

Finals

ABS-CBN

September 25 4:30 p.m.

FEU Tamaraws	49–72	Ateneo Blue Eagles
Scoring by quarter: 8–26, 13–16, 17–18, 11–12
Pts: RR Garcia 11 Rebs: Aldrech Ramos 11 Asts: RR Garcia 3		Pts: Kirk Long 14 Rebs: Nico Salva 9 Asts: Eric Salamat 6

Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City Attendance: 16,834

Studio 23

September 30 3:30 p.m.

FEU Tamaraws	62–65	Ateneo Blue Eagles
Scoring by quarter: 22–13, 9–17, 19–22, 12–13
Pts: Reil Cervantes 15 Rebs: Reil Cervantes 10 Asts: RR Garcia 6		Pts: Ryan Buenafe 23 Rebs: 3 players, 6 each Asts: Monfort, Salamat 3
Ateneo wins series 2–0

Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City Attendance: 17,215

• Finals Most Valuable Player: Ryan Buenafe (Ateneo Blue Eagles)

Controversies

Commissioner Ato Badolato suspended the three referees who officiated the Ateneo–Adamson first round game for two games on unspecified "bad calls." Ateneo won that game 69–66.^[30]

Badolato also suspended three players for a single game each for incurring their second unsportsmanlike fouls in the season:^[31]

• Reil Cervantes of FEU for clotheslining Paul Lee of UE
• Alvin Padilla of UP for elbowing Ateneo's Arthur dela Cruz.
• Glenn Khobuntin of NU for tripping La Salle's Sam Marata.

Badolato further suspended two referees of the NU–UP second round game, and Alvin Padilla of UP for hurling invectives at the officials. Padilla received a one-game suspension, while the referees received suspensions for two play-dates for poor performance; referee Glenn Cornelio was previously suspended as being part of the officiating crew of the Ateneo–Adamson second round game. UP placed the result of the game under protest for the referees' judgment call on UP's lane violation and on a non-call on NU's Emmanuel Mbe's supposedly goal-tending of UP's Alvin Padlla's three-point shot.^[28]

Awards

The UAAP awarded the outstanding players of the season prior to Game 2 of the Finals at the Araneta Coliseum.^[32]

• Most Valuable Player: RR Garcia (FEU Tamaraws)
• Rookie of the Year: Terrence Romeo (FEU Tamaraws)
• Mythical Five:
  • RR Garcia (FEU Tamaraws)
  • Emmanuel Mbe (NU Bulldogs)
  • Aldrech Ramos (FEU Tamaraws)
  • Paul Lee (UE Red Warriors)
  • Kenneth Acibar (UE Red Warriors)

Broadcast notes

Studio 23 carried all games live, except for the 1st game of the finals where it was aired live by ABS-CBN in its terrestrial television channel for the first time. ABS-CBN would have aired the third game but the Ateneo Blue Eagles already won the finals series during the second game. SkyCable Channel 166 (Balls HD) aired the finals series on high definition live, with Balls SD airing the replays. The Filipino Channel broadcast the series outside the Philippines.

Game	Play-by-play	Analyst	Courtside reporters	TV ratings
				AGB Mega Manila	Kantar Media-TNS National
FEU–La Salle men's semifinal	Eric Tipan	Marco Benitez	Stephanie Sy and Erin Torrejon	NA	NA
Ateneo–Adamson men's semifinal	Boom Gonzalez	TJ Manotoc	Jessica Mendoza and Job de Leon	NA	NA
Finals, Game 1	Eric Tipan	TJ Manotoc	Jessica Mendoza and Stephanie Sy	3.5%, 7th^[33]	9.7%, 7th^[34]
Finals, Game 2	Boom Gonzalez	TJ Manotoc	Jessica Mendoza and Stephanie Sy	NA	NA

References

1. "Red Warriors take fight out of UP Maroons". GMANews.TV. 2010-09-11. Retrieved 2010-09-19.
2. Payo, Jasmine (2010-09-14). "Garcia named UAAP MVP; Romeo is top rookie". INQUIRER.net. Retrieved 2010-09-19.
3. "UP coach on leave (2:04 p.m.)". Sunstar Manila. 2010-07-23. Retrieved 2010-10-05.
4. "Pumaren to run for Congress". ABS-CBNnews.com. 2009-10-08. Retrieved 2010-07-21.
5. "Pumaren, Dandan part ways with UAAP teams". GMANews,tv. 2009-10-07. Retrieved 2010-07-21.
6. Terrado, Jonas (2009-10-05). "2 UAAP coaches fired". Manila Bulletin. Retrieved 2010-07-21.
7. "Jarencio remains Tigers coach, says UST official". GMANews.tv. 2009-10-06. Retrieved 2010-07-21.
8. "Long-time deputy Gonzales gets his big break as new NU coach". GMANews.tv. 2010-01-06. Retrieved 2010-07-21.
9. "Stags send warning vs NCAA foes with title win vs Tams". GMANews.tv. 2010-06-13. Retrieved 2010-07-21.
10. "Ateneo annexes Martin Cup crown". The Philippine Star. 2010-01-14. Retrieved 2010-07-21.
11. Chavez, Leilani (2010-07-05). "UAAP teams wary of Season 73". ABS-CBNNews.com. Retrieved 2010-09-10.
12. Leyba, Olymin (2010-07-11). "Archers clobber Maroons in hot start". The Philippine Star. Retrieved 2011-05-09.
13. Leyba, Olymin (2010-07-12). "Tams ground Eagles; Falcons rap Bulldogs". The Philippine Star. Retrieved 2011-05-09.
14. "Tamaraws tame Tigers, sweep UAAP 1st round". GMA News Online. 2010-08-07. Retrieved 2011-05-09.
15. Villar, Joey (2010-07-16). "Ateneo bucks pesky AdU; NU nips DLSU". The Philippine Star. Retrieved 2011-05-09.
16. "Marata 3-pointers help Archers slip past Eagles". GMA News Online. 2010-07-24. Retrieved 2011-05-09.
17. Villar, Joey (2010-07-17). "Badolato suspends erring refs in Ateneo-AdU duel". The Philippine Star. Retrieved 2011-05-09.
18. Villar, Joey (2010-07-18). "Tams ignore Bulldogs' bark, shackle Mbe". The Philippine Star. Retrieved 2011-05-09.
19. Divinagracia, Anthony (2010-07-26). "Falcons escape three-point savvy Tigers". ABS-CBNNews.com. Retrieved 2011-05-09.
20. Almo, Alder T. (2010-07-23). "UP finally changes Maroons coach". ABS-CBNNews.com. Retrieved 2011-05-09.
21. Payo, Jasmine W. (2010-07-29). "UST win make it a double thriller". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved 2011-05-09.
22. Giongco, Mark Simon Vincent C. (2010-07-30). "Bullish 'dogs feast on Warriors". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved 2011-05-09.
23. Almo, Alder T. (2010-07-30). "UST rains triples, beats NU". ABS-CBNNews.com. Retrieved 2011-05-09.
24. Payo, Jasmine W. (2010-08-03). "Hot-shooting Tams still unscathed; Archers trip Tigers". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved 2011-05-09.
25. Terrado, Jonas (2010-07-31). "Struggling UE nails first win, slips past Maroons". Manila Bulletin. Retrieved 2011-05-09.
26. Payo, Jasmine W. (2010-08-07). "Soaring to second: Eagles, Falcons rip foes". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved 2011-05-09.
27. Payo, Jasmine W. (2010-08-08). "Ateneo stops UE 80-73; Adamson edges La Salle". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved 2011-05-09.
28. "UAAP commissioner junks UP's protest". Philippine Daily Inquirer. 2010-08-24. Retrieved 2010-08-26.
29. Payo, Jasmine (2010-08-31). "Eagles nose out Falcons, secure Final Four berth". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved 2010-09-20.
30. Villar, Joey (2010-07-17). "Badolato suspends erring refs in Ateneo-AdU duel". The Philippine Star. Retrieved 2010-07-21.
31. Payo, Jasmine (2010-08-19). "Far Eastern ace, 2 others draw one-game UAAP ban". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved 2010-08-22.
32. Terrado, Jonas (2010-09-30). "FEU Star Wins Most Valuable Player award". Manila Bulletin. Retrieved 2010-10-09.
33. Santiago, Erwin (2010-09-28). "AGB Nielsen Mega Manila People Ratings (Sept. 24-27): Kapuso shows dominate both daytime and primetime". Retrieved 2010-09-29.
34. Santiago, Erwin (2010-09-28). "Kantar Media-TNS National Household Ratings (Sept. 24-27): Kapamilya shows rule competition". Retrieved 2010-09-29.

External links

• UAAP Season 72 - Official ABS-CBN website
• UBelt.com
• UAAP on Inboundpass.com

Preceded by Season 72 (2009)

UAAP basketball seasons Season 73 (2010) basketball

Succeeded by Season 74 (2011)