UP FIGHTING MAROONS : THE GAME WE ALMOST DIDN'T WATCH

When the UP Fighting Maroons Men's Basketball team lost two Sundays ago, my sister and I had second thoughts about watching the game last Saturday live. We planned to watch it live at the MOA Arena as part of my birthday gift to her since she celebrated her birthday a few weeks back.

The loss was hard. We expected the team to fair well against UE since we beat them easily in the first round. The trend is somewhat happening again, we had a good start and lose steam in the end - just like last year, and just like what happened with the Women's Volleyball Team last season.

We parked the idea of watching the game for a while but I needed to decide before the morning of last Tuesday. My sister needs to file her undertime leave since she has work on Saturdays.

Why am I having second thoughts? I do not want to see the team lose again live. This season, we went to watch live the first round games against UST and DLSU which we both won. The 3rd game we watched was the first round NU game which we lost in the last few seconds. It was heartbreaking. I don't want to experience it again - especially if we will lose by a large margin - which happened in the first round game against FEU.

But we know we need to support the team, after a tough loss against UE, the guys needs as much support from the UP crowd. So we decided to go and watch. It was our first time to buy Patron tickets and we really hoped it will be worth it.

We arrived early and even got those foam thing from Piattos that we really were looking for the previous games. We caught the first game which was really quite predictable with Ateneo getting an easy win over UE. I actually can't remember the details of the game since I was more engrossed in looking at my Twitter feed about an org event I missed to watch the game, reading tweets of support to the UPMBT and getting surprised by the news that Coach Tai is no longer coaching Ateneo.

Then, it's time for UP's game against FEU. The UP crowd was noticeably smaller compared to the previous game that we watched live. But deep in our hearts, these UP loyals will cheer our hearts out. In fact, even with our smaller crowd, we still out numbered the FEU fans. Saying our own prayers just before game time so that divine intervention can happen. The team started quite sluggish with FEU getting a double digit lead midway in the 1st quarter. Good thing we had a small run towards the end, only down by 4 at the end of the first 10 minutes.

The second quarter was a different story. The Fighting Maroons came in aggressive, starting the quarter with a 17 - 0 run spanning from the end of the first quarter up to the start of the second. They outscored FEU, 18 - 7 in this quarter and ended the half up by 7.

The 3rd quarter was the most excruciating quarter I have watched live. It was as if the basket is covered. Almost all the shots are not going in. The team was only able to score 5 points - the least any teams scored in a quarter this season. The quarter ended with the team down by 10.

Early in the fourth quarter, both teams were trading baskets but at some point, FEU was already ahead by 12 points with about 8 minutes left. The time is definitely not our side. Miraculously, our zone defense was working and FEU's basket are not going in and we even forced several turnovers. Thanks to the superb defense of Ibrahim Ouattara and getting shots on the other end, 4 straight points from Juan Gomez de Liano, Gelo Vito's put back from a Desiderio miss and a 3 point shot and Jun Manzo's floater, we had a 13 - 0 run to get the lead, 56 - 53 with less than a minute left.

When Jasper Parker got that 3 point shot to tie the game, we were just hoping for a sure 2 point shot or overtime. This was also the same wish we had when we were down 2 points at the end game of the UP - UST first round game. We know that Paul Desiderio will still be the go to player and we really hope that he still is the clutch that we witnessed in our first game of the season.

When the first play where Manzo missed the shot and the ball was said to be going to FEU, we were praying hard - Lord give us this win. We know that this win can really help our Final Four bid this season. After reviewing the tape, it was decided that UP keeps the possession. Then they fouled on the next play - leaving us 6.2 seconds to get the winning shot.

Lord, give us this one. We need this win.

Juan GDL inbounded the ball to Manzo who immediately passed the ball to Desiderio. With a step back shot, Desiderio released the ball on our vantage point, it seems to be going in. It seemed slow motion - that 2 seconds seems eternity. The shot went in and the UP crowd was ecstatic! With 1.1 clock ticks left, the inbound was stolen by Juan GDL and we get the win!

Yes, we got the win... Yes, we won! Our Final Four Dream is alive!

I was shaking after the game. I was shaking when we sang with pride "UP Naming Mahal". I was shaking when I took the team photo seen at the bottom of the picture above. I was still shaking after all of this. We literally had to settle down before we left the arena. We were so proud of the team and this win.

We were really happy we watched this game. At the end of the day, we support the team - win or lose. It turns out that the game we almost did not watch was the game we will surely remember for years. It was a good win. It was a team win. It was a win that takes us to the right direction - towards the goal of that elusive Final Four.

We went home and still watched the replay. We can't get over that last 6 seconds and the second game winning shot of Desiderio this season. We were these. We witnessed it live. We believe in this team and we will support the team - whether we get to the Final Four or not.