THE 2015 edition of the Philippine Collegiate Champions League saw San Beda and Far Eastern University end up as co-champions in an incident that will go down as one of the oddest moments in Philippine basketball.
A typhoon that postponed one playdate forced the league to declare the winners of the two semifinal matches pitting San Beda and Letran, and FEU against University of San Carlos as the co-champions.
Players’ safety as well as pre-booked return flights to their respective provinces which were difficult to rebook during the holiday season left PCCL officials no choice but to cut the tournament short.
It wasn't the first time. On December 17, 2015, San Beda and FEU won their respective semifinal matches to be named as the first joint titlists of the tournament considered as the country’s unofficial national collegiate championship.
Apparently, a similar occurrence also happened almost 20 years earlier.
In a Philippine Basketball League game, Casino Rubbing Alcohol and foreign guest team Slovak-Hapee were pitted in a championship game for the International Invitational Cup on December 17, 1995 at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.
At that time, the PBL held a short conference in which ballclubs from the Slovak Republic, Korea, and Guam were invited to play against local teams.
The match between the Alcohol Makers and the Slovak squad went into overtime, 86-86. Silver Villafuerte hit crucial free throws to tie the score again at 97-97, leading to a second overtime.
In a report by Manila Standard, the match was no longer continued as the Slovak team had a flight back home to catch that same evening.
“Ma-traffic pa naman. Eh ang next flight to Zurich sa January na kaya pinayagan na namin sila,” PBL commissioner Charlie Favis was quoted as saying by the Manila Standard.
It was one of the most bizarre endings in Philippine basketball, a moment that was duplicated after two decades in the collegiate scene.
The Red Lions beat the Knights, 94-72, behind the 11-point performance of Davon Potts in the first game, with the Tamaraws winning over the Warriors, 82-77, with Joe Trinidad tallying 16 points in the match.
Do you have a recollection of that 1995 PBL game? Hit the comment section.
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