BACKTRACK: DLSU’s last game in the NCAA

Jun 4
20088:25 pm

Posted by GREENARCHERS.PH

It has been twenty two years since De La Salle University became a resident of the Universities Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP). And in a span of a decade and a half, the mighty Green Archers have been a perennial fixture in the finals and have snagged four UAAP men's basketball titles to the dismay of rival universities.

Older people could remember that before De La Salle's fruitful tenure in the UAAP, it has also dominated in the oldest collegiate league in the country, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). But not too many know the reason why La Salle decided to leave the NCAA and pack its bags for the UAAP.

On August 17, 1980, La Salle tangled with Letran in a basketball tiff at the Rizal Coliseum. Students from both universities were at their barbaric best, taunting each other even before the tip-off.

Physical play was apparent. The affair turned ugly when Letran, leading 22-18, called a time-out in the middle of the first half.

All that taunting led to an altercation in the bleacher section between the supporters of both schools.

The fracas started when a Letran student was ganged up and beaten by La Salle students, igniting a riot. Fans inside the arena began to throw objects into the hardcourt and sporadic clashes erupted in the stands.

As a result, the players from both teams rushed to the dugouts for safety. So catastrophic was the atmosphere inside the coliseum along Vito Cruz that a large number of spectators were hurt, prompting NCAA officials to call off the game. So serious was the riot that a great portion of the coliseum was damaged.

After deliberation, league honchos considered replaying the game behind closed doors but the Basketball Association of the Philippines (BAP) took matter into its own hands, ordering the NCAA to cancel the remainder of the basketball season.

Thus, no men's basketball champion will be crowned for 1980. La Salle tried to appeal to the basketball-governing body for the games to resume but to no avail.

That's why by September of 1980, De La Salle officially withdrew its alliance with the NCAA, fed up with all the uncontrollable violence that was happening. It became the second university to pull out from the league, its archrival Ateneo De Manila being the first.

La Salle then attempted to apply for admission to the UAAP but was rejected by the member schools, most vocal of which were the University of Sto. Tomas (UST) and of course, Ateneo. The Jesuit-run school insisted that La Salle's entry would only renew the heated rivalry and the games might be blown out of proportion once again.

La Salle then partook in various minor tournaments. But in 1986, De La Salle's insistence bore fruit, as it was officially accepted as the 8th member of the UAAP.

And the Green Archers immediately buckled down to work, striking fear into the hearts of their opponents upon their entry while establishing themselves as contenders for the title.

And it just took three years for La Salle to regain basketball supremacy, capturing its first UAAP men's basketball crown in 1989 thanks to main man Zandro "Jun" Limpot at the helm, who got his Most Valuable Player citation to boot.

And the rest, as they say, was history.

-Orginally Posted in Greenarcher.net (July 2000)

Tagged as: De La Salle Basketball, Jun Limpot, NCAA, UAAP

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Comments (6) Trackbacks (0) ( subscribe to comments on this post )

riokan
July 4th, 2008 - 19:28

i remember when my father told me that the battle between de la salle college and ateneo de manila was not as hot as today in uaap. before it is the battle between letran and la salle, and ateneo san beda, but as time DID GAVE, it changed to a cross rivalry now the ever famous NCAA-LETRAN-SAN BEDA

AND UAAP

ATENEO-LA SALLE

ANIMO LA SALLE
WELL FIGHT TO KEEP YOUR GLORY BRIGHT
mobygrape
July 5th, 2008 - 10:45

your figures are wrong. the archers have won six, not four, titles. one w jun limpot, then that four-peat, then again last year. there’s also that contested title which resulted in the team’s suspension. so that’s seven.
the eighth could come this year, or next.
Storm Shadow
July 5th, 2008 - 15:55

To Mobygrape:

As mentioned below the article, this was published in greenarcher.net back in July 2000. At that time, the Archers had only one four titles. Nothing wrong here

In fact the Archers had already oficially won SEVEN championships (1989-1990, 1998-2001, 2007)and not six as you mentioned.

Cheers
sonny888
July 10th, 2008 - 21:25

Wow, Ateneo was blocking La Salle’s entry to the UAAP then? Well, if La Salle was not able to join the UAAP then there would be no blockbuster La Salle-Ateneo games now which earn lots of money and adds tons of popularity for the UAAP.
eps
July 14th, 2008 - 17:35

I was one of the spectators inside the Rizal Memorial Coliseum during that game. The Coliseum was tension-filled even before the game started as Letran Officials refused to let their fans enter the bleacher section due to the presence of unknown persons in their stands. The game finally started after numerous discussions between the two camps but it was obvious more things were to happen. Letran took an early lead but we were confident that La Salle would catch up. Letran players became very rough and I remember Itoy Esguerra sucker-punching Franz Pumaren in the ear outside of the referrees visions. A rumble in the Letran Reserved section suddenly happened. This led to Letran students throwing all types of garbage to the La Salle bench , which forced the team to relocate to the La Salle section of the Coliseum. This was the first and perhaps only time this has happened (or it ever will. The Letran crowd kept taunting and became more boisterous than ever. They even shouted “Arriba Letran, beat Cojuanngco”, referring to then La Salle Team Manager – Danding Cojuangco, who invited many of his Tarlac provincemates to cheer for La Salle. Chants of “Manalo, Matalo, Gulpi Kayo” were made to the La Salle crowd and by that time, the NCAA Officials declared the game cancelled. What happened afterwards is something I cannot forget. The La Sallites were asked to exit via the Rizal Tennis courts and throught eh small estero bridge leading to the South Gate. All the while, the Letran guys were already waiting at the La Salle bleachers exit and ready to rumble. Accdg. to later news reports, as the La Sallites exited the Colisuem, the Letran thugs crossed the bleacher barriers and damaged the Coliseum electronic equipment. While all the La Salle spectaors were safely inside the DLSU compound, a rain of stones from Taft Avenue were suddenly unleashed! Letran students were attacking the campus. Many cars at the old parking lot (now Mc Donalds) were damaged. The people inside the campus countered with anything they can get to throw back to the Letran thugs. it must have took at least 2 hours before everything subsided. Later on, a former office-mate of mine, told me he was beat up while walking along Vito Cruz since he was wearing an LSGH uniform just after the game. I’m sharing this experience to let your young guys out there realise the very positive change we are experiencing today in watching UAAP games. Gone are the post-game rumbles and everyone feels safe after watching a basketball game. That 1980 La Salle-Letran NCAA game ended the era of spectator violence in Collegiate Sports. I can watch the tightly-fought UAAP battles with my whole family and feel safe after the games. Animo La Salle!
Bruticus
July 14th, 2008 - 22:37

Thank goodness that era is now a thing of the past. Those rumbles came at a time when the country was going through a trubulent period called Martial Law, and thus hotheads sprouting all over the place.

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