The Green Archers will face the Blue Eagles in the UAAP men’s basketball finals starting this Saturday. La Salle will look to win consecutive championships for the first time since 2001 while Ateneo seeks to reclaim the title they last held in 2012.
This will be 6th time that both squads will duel for the championship. Let us look back at those previous finals series.
1988
Just in its third year in the UAAP, the Green Archers advanced to the finals against an Ateneo team that is going for back-to-back championships. Ateneo, which finished on top after the elimination round only had to win just once to clinch the title. Led by Dindo Pumaren, La Salle put up a gallant effort stand but eventually yielded to the Blue Eagles.
2001
Both teams would meet again in the finals after 13-long years. By that time, the Green Archers have already established itself as a consistent force in the league while the Blue Eagles are slowly beginning to rise once again after falling into mediocrity for the most part of the 1990s.
This series when the full distance with the Archers coming out on top to cap off their four-year championship run.
2002
Even with the graduation of Renren Ritualo, it appeared that the Green Archers were on their way to win their 5th straight UAAP title. On the verge of sweeping the elimination round, they lost to Ateneo and eventually to this same team in a 3-game championship series.
This is considered by many as the most painful season ever.
2008
The defending champion Green Archers simply had no answer for the Blue Eagles all season long. They were eventually swept in the finals as Ateneo won its first of five consecutive titles.
2016
The Green Archers were just above everybody else last season. Though it was the Blue Eagles that gave them their only loss in the elimination round, it did not stop them from sweeping their way in the finals to clinch the title.