# UAAP Season 67 men's basketball tournament

The men's basketball tournament of UAAP Season 67 (2004–05 season) of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) was hosted by De La Salle University. ABS-CBN covered the games on Studio 23.
Defending champions FEU Tamaraws finished first after the elimination round clinching the twice-to-beat advantage; a game behind was last season's finalist Ateneo Blue Eagles and archrival De La Salle Green Archers, and a further two games behind are the UE Red Warriors. La Salle defeated Ateneo on the playoff for the second seed, hence clinching the twice-to-beat advantage. In the semifinals, both top seeded teams eliminated their opponents. The heavily favored Tamaraws were dealt with a shock loss by La Salle in the first game of the finals, but they rebounded on the second game to extend the series into a deciding third game. In a game that had plenty of lead changes in the final two minutes, La Salle's JV Casio converted a three-point shot to put La Salle up for good to win the championship. Mark Cardona was named finals Most Valuable Player (MVP).
FEU's Arwind Santos was named the season MVP, and Marcy Arellano was awarded the Rookie of the Year honors.
La Salle would return the 2004 championship and the 2005 runner-up trophies in 2005 after it was revealed that two of their players used spurious records to enroll at the school; since the players are not eligible to be college students, they were ineligible to play as varsity players. The league later suspended all of La Salle's teams in both divisions for the 2006 season, forfeited all of La Salle's wins from 2003 to 2005, and gave the 2004 championship trophy to FEU, the defeated finalists. This gave FEU three consecutive championships from 2003 to 2005. La Salle's varsity teams would return for the 2007–08 season.

## Elimination round

| Pos | Team | W | L | PCT | GB | Qualification |
| 1 | FEU Tamaraws | 11 | 3 | .786 | — | Twice-to-beat in the semifinals |
| 2 | De La Salle Green Archers (H) | 10 | 4 | .714 | 1 | Twice-to-beat in the semifinals |
| 3 | Ateneo Blue Eagles | 10 | 4 | .714 | 1 | Twice-to-win in the semifinals |
| 4 | UE Red Warriors | 8 | 6 | .571 | 3 | Twice-to-win in the semifinals |
| 5 | UP Fighting Maroons | 7 | 7 | .500 | 4 | |
| 6 | Adamson Falcons | 5 | 9 | .357 | 6 | |
| 7 | UST Growling Tigers | 4 | 10 | .286 | 7 | |
| 8 | NU Bulldogs | 1 | 13 | .071 | 10 | |
* ↑ This "final" team standings is overturned when La Salle forfeited their games after the season was over. See La Salle forfeiture of the championship for details.
* 1 2 Second-seed playoff: La Salle 82–69 Ateneo

### Match-up results

| | Round 1 | Round 1 | Round 1 | Round 1 | Round 1 | Round 1 | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 2 | Round 2 | Round 2 | Round 2 | Round 2 | 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 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

### Scores

Results on top and to the right of the dashes are for first-round games; those to the bottom and to the left of it are second-round games.
| Teams | AdU | AdMU | DLSU | FEU | NU | UE | UP | UST |
| Adamson Soaring Falcons | — | 55–58 | 64–62 | 57–64 | 69–53 | 51–59 | 68–54 | 65–70 |
| Ateneo Blue Eagles | 83–63 | — | 75–72 | 67–64 | 67–56 | 74–50 | 72–63 | 81–70 |
| De La Salle Green Archers | 79–67 | 72-61 | — | 69–54 | 60–40 | 79–82 | 69–68 | 79–75 |
| FEU Tamaraws | 58–55 | 65–51 | 70–52 | — | 86–85* | 89–61 | 63–56 | 83–65 |
| NU Bulldogs | 65–70 | 58–62 | 51–80 | 65–78 | — | 51–67 | 56–69 | 71–86 |
| UE Red Warriors | 57–53 | 64–59 | 61–81 | 62–64 | 67–45 | — | 63–56 | 72–74 |
| UP Fighting Maroons | 66–55 | 74–69 | 52–70 | 61–56 | 64–55 | 65–57 | — | 77–81 |
| UST Growling Tigers | 61–72 | 62–77 | 77–86 | 57–66 | 63–82 | 59–77 | 74–79 | — |

## Second seed playoff

Ateneo and La Salle ended tied for second; as a result, a playoff was held to determine which team will clinch the #2 seed and the twice-to-beat advantage that goes along with it, a de facto first game of a best-of-three series.
* Studio 23
* September 14 3:30 p.m.
| De La Salle Green Archers | Ateneo Blue Eagles |
| Scoring by quarter: 21–17, 20–17, 21–15, 20–20 |||
| Pts: Mark Cardona 20 Rebs: Junjun Cabatu 11 Asts: TY Tang 7 | Pts: LA Tenorio 22 Rebs: 3 players, 8 each Asts: Tenorio, Intal 3 each |
| La Salle wins the twice to beat advantage; La Salle subsequently forfeited all wins in this season |||
* Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City
La Salle's Mark Cardona scored 13 points to give the Green Archers a 41–34 lead early in the game. Early in the third quarter, La Salle scored eight unanswered baskets to give them a 15-point lead; later in the quarter, Ateneo's top scorer JC Intal, who was suffering from fever, fouled out with six points. Further offensive incursions ballooned La Salle's lead to 19 in the fourth quarter that sealed the victory for the Green Archers. La Salle will possess the twice-to-beat advantage against Ateneo in their semifinal series.

## Bracket

| Semifinals (Nos. 1 & 2 have twice-to-beat advantage) | Semifinals (Nos. 1 & 2 have twice-to-beat advantage) | Semifinals (Nos. 1 & 2 have twice-to-beat advantage) | Finals (Best-of-three series) | Finals (Best-of-three series) | Finals (Best-of-three series) | Finals (Best-of-three series) | Finals (Best-of-three series) |
| 1 | FEU | 71 | | | | | |
| 4 | UE | 64 | | | | | |
| 4 | UE | 64 | 1 | FEU | 51 | 67 | 65 |
| | | | 2 | La Salle | 58 | 57 | 68 |
| 2 | La Salle | 69 | 2 | La Salle | 58 | 57 | 68 |
| 3 | Ateneo | 55 | | | | | |
After La Salle's two ineligible players were discovered after UAAP Season 68, all of their games from Season 66-68 were forfeited. Prior to the forfeiture, La Salle returned their Season 67 championship trophy and their Season 68 runner-up trophy. The UAAP Board subsequently awarded the trophy to FEU in 2006.

## Semifinals

FEU and La Salle have the twice-to-beat advantage, with them only have to win once, while the opponents twice, to progress.

### (1) FEU vs. (4) UE

* Studio 23
* September 16 4:00 p.m.
| FEU Tamaraws | UE Red Warriors |
| Scoring by quarter: 20–20, 13–21, 21–11, 17–12 |||
| Pts: Denok Miranda 19 | Pts: Hubalde, Saguindel 16 each |
| FEU wins series in one game. |||
* Philsports Arena, Pasig
With UE up 44–33 at halftime, FEU had a 17–7 run in the third quarter to lead the game 50–48. In the fourth quarter, the Tamaraws had another 12–2 run to lead by 12 points. UE's Paolo Hubalde led an 8–2 run that cut FEU's lead to six, but the Red Warriors turned the ball over three times in the final minutes. Dennis Miranda had a game-high 19 points to lead the Tamaraws to their second-consecutive finals berth.

### (2) La Salle vs. (3) Ateneo

* Studio 23
* September 19 4:00 p.m.
| De La Salle Green Archers | Ateneo Blue Eagles |
| Scoring by quarter: 13–13, 17–15, 19–7, 20–20 |||
| Pts: Mark Cardona 24 Rebs: Junjun Cabatu 11 Asts: Mark Cardona 5 | Pts: Tenorio, Membrere 11 each Rebs: 4 players, 6 each Asts: LA Tenorio 5 |
| La Salle wins series in one game; La Salle subsequently forfeited all wins in this season |||
* Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City
At the first half, La Salle led by two points 30–28. Jerwin Gaco and JV Casio padded La Salle's lead to 14 points to close the third quarter. Mark Cardona scored a three-point shot and earned La Salle an insurmountable 18-point lead. Magnum Membrere will convert two consecutive three-point shots to cut the lead to ten with less than two minutes remaining but La Salle would hold on and meet defending champions FEU in the finals.

## Finals

This is a best-of-three playoff.

### Game 1

* Studio 23
* September 23 4:00 p.m.
| FEU Tamaraws | De La Salle Green Archers |
| Scoring by quarter: 10–24, 16–15, 12–14, 13–5 |||
| Pts: Arwind Santos 14 Rebs: Arwind Santos 12 Asts: Miranda, Yabut 3 each | Pts: Ryan Araña 16 Rebs: Junjun Cabatu 8 Asts: Cardona, Cabatu 4 each |
| La Salle leads series 1–0; La Salle subsequently forfeited all wins in this season |||
* Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City
La Salle led 24–10 after the first quarter with Ryan Araña and Mark Cardona leading the effort. The Green Archers increased their lead to 19 points in the third quarter when FEU's RJ Rizada and Arwind Santos unsuccessfully led a late-game run to undermine the rout. La Salle held on to lead the series, with Cardona having 15 points and Araña scoring a game-high of 16 points; Santos had a double-double performance of 14 points and 12 rebounds and teammates Rizada and Dennis Miranda scored 10 points in a losing effort.

### Game 2

* Studio 23
* September 26 4:00 p.m.
| FEU Tamaraws | De La Salle Green Archers |
| Scoring by quarter: 18–14, 24–18, 8–16, 17–9 |||
| Pts: R.J. Rizada 13 Rebs: Arwind Santos 15 Asts: R.J. Rizada 4 | Pts: Mark Cardona 18 Rebs: Junjun Cabatu 10 Asts: 3 players, 3 each |
| Series tied 1–1; La Salle subsequently forfeited all wins in this season |||
* Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City
FEU's RJ Rizada and Jeff Chan scored the team's 11 of 18 first quarter points to set the tone of the game; Rizada and Paul Flores led FEU in the second quarter to secure a 42–32 halftime lead. Ty Tang, Mark Cardona and Ryan Araña cut FEU's lead to two points at the end of the third, but FEU scored ten unanswered points, preventing La Salle from scoring until there were only five minutes left in the fourth, to settle the outcome of the game, and extend their title defense. Santos had another double-double performance, scoring ten points and grabbing 15 rebounds. Cardona, who was beaten by Santos in the season Most Valuable Player honors that was awarded prior to the game, had a game-high 18 points.

### Game 3

The game was held a day before the 29th anniversary of the Thrilla in Manila which was also held at the Araneta Coliseum, the venue of the Finals.
* Studio 23
* September 30 4:00 p.m.
| FEU Tamaraws | De La Salle Green Archers |
| Scoring by quarter: 18–14, 14–18, 11–18, 22–18 |||
| Pts: Arwind Santos 17 Rebs: Arwind Santos 13 Asts: Denok Miranda 3 | Pts: Mark Cardona 17 Rebs: Junjun Cabatu 6 Asts: Yeo, Cabatu 4 each |
| La Salle wins series 2–1, La Salle subsequently forfeited all wins in this season; FEU awarded championship |||
* Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City
* Finals Most Valuable Player: Mark Cardona (De La Salle Green Archers)
The deciding game was close all throughout, but La Salle built a 54–43 lead at the start of the fourth quarter after a Rico Maierhofer put-back. FEU then had a 16–3 run to give the Tamaraws back the lead with 4:14 left. Jerwin Gaco broke the FEU run, but Miranda and Mark Isip each split their free-throws to bring back the lead to FEU with 2:21 left. Gaco and Joseph Yeo scored a basket each to wrest the lead back to La Salle, but Isip made his own two consecutive baskets to give FEU the lead with 37 seconds left. With La Salle having the possession, JV Casio scored a three-point shot off a fake that freed him from Miranda's defenses that gave La Salle the lead. Miranda drove hard to the basket but missed, and another FEU put-back from pointblank range also resulted in a miss; Cardona rebounded the ball, that led to him being fouled by Miranda with 2.4 seconds left. Cardona split his free-throws, Jeff Chan got the ball and heaved from half court but missed, clinching the championship to La Salle.

## Broadcast notes
### UAAP Final Four

September 16, 2004
| Game | Play-by-play | Analyst | Team |
| Game 1 | Boom Gonzalez | Ronnie Magsanoc | FEU vs. UE |
September 19, 2004
| Game | Play-by-play | Analyst | Team |
| Game 1 | Boom Gonzalez | TJ Manotoc | DLSU vs. ADMU |

### UAAP Finals

| Game | Play-by-play | Analyst |
| Game 1 | Sev Sarmenta | Randy Sacdalan |
| Game 2 | Boom Gonzalez | TJ Manotoc |
| Game 3 | Sev Sarmenta | Randy Sacdalan |

## Awards

The awards were given out prior to Game 2 at the Araneta Coliseum:
* Most Valuable Player: Arwind Santos (FEU Tamaraws)
* Rookie of the Year: Marcy Arellano (UE Red Warriors)
* Mythical Five:
** Arwind Santos (FEU Tamaraws)
** Mark Cardona (De La Salle Green Archers)
** LA Tenorio (Ateneo Blue Eagles)
** Paolo Bugia (Ateneo Blue Eagles)
** Dennis Miranda (FEU Tamaraws)
* Most Improved Player: JC Intal (Ateneo Blue Eagles)

## La Salle forfeiture of the championship

At the end of the 2005 finals in which FEU won over La Salle, it was revealed that La Salle unknowingly fielded two ineligible players. This caused them to return the 2004 championship trophy and the 2005 runner-up trophy. The league would later suspend La Salle for the 2006 season, give the 2004 championship trophy to FEU, and forfeit all of their games from 2003 to 2005.