WINNING a championship is hard. Winning one without the loss of one game is the stuff of legend.
That's the mission at hand for Ateneo as the Katipunan-based institution seeks to become only the fourth school and only the seventh team in the long history of UAAP men's basketball to win a championship without dropping a single game.
Johnny Revilla and the Baby Dalupan-coached University of the East Red Warriors were the first to pull off the feat in back-to-back seasons in 1969 and 1970.
Marte Saldana also led Far Eastern University to a clean run in 1976 for the UAAP Season 39 title, before Anthony Williams steered the Tamaraws to achieve a repeat sweep in 1980 and 1981 of the two-round elimination phase, claiming the UAAP Seasons 43 and 44 championships.
But the last time that an immaculate run happened was in 1993, when a powerhouse University of Santo Tomas side coached by the great Aric del Rosario completed a 14-game romp in UAAP Season 56.
That was the first year when the collegiate league adopted the Final Four format. But under the existing rules then, a team that went unscathed through the eliminations gets the championship outright.
The Golden Tigers, as they were known then, were as formidable as the Blue Eagles of today - a squad deep in talent and stacked with future PBA players, Dennis Espino, Rey Evangelista, Bal David, Edmund Reyes, Udoy Belmonte, Siot Tanquingcen, Chris Cantonjos, and Patrick Fran.

UST started that journey with an emphatic 27-point rout of Ateneo, 93-66, with Espino leading the way with 21 points as three other players got to double digits. From there, everything fell into place as the Tigers lived up to their billing as the season's favorites.
They also sent a strong statement against fellow contender La Salle, 80-70, with Rudolf Belmonte plowing through with 29 points in a game where del Rosario first unleashed the depth of his side for their second win.
The first challenge UST faced, actually, wasn't from an opposition but rather, a power failure as Araneta Coliseum dealt with brownouts. But despite the delays, it still got through defending champion Far Eastern University, 78-66.
After a clean 7-0 romp of the first round, the possibility of the sweep seemed inevitable.
And the Tigers knew it.
Even without del Rosario, who was then with Alaska serving as an assistant coach for Tim Cone, as well as key players Evangelista and Reyes, UST still mauled National University by 17 points, 99-72, with Espino firing 24 points and Siot Tanquingcen adding 14.
Two games after came the Tigers' most dominant victory of the season - a 32-point rout of University of the Philippines by, 93-61, where del Rosario, for the first time, finally acknolwedged his team's shot at immortality.
"I cannot be humble and say that my boys are not sure of making the 14-game sweep," del Rosario told the Manila Bulletin after UST hiked its record to 10-0.
The countdown was on.
Vince Hizon and Richie Ticzon combined for 45 for Ateneo, but it was not enough for Ateneo stop the rampaging Tigers, 113-85.
FEU, playing without top gunner Nestor Echano, leaned on Bryant Punzalan, Rhoel Josol, and Long David to keep things close at 52-all with six minutes left. Espino's will, though, was undeterred, triggering a 7-2 spurt that guided UST to a 66-58 win.
Tony Boy Espinosa gave it his best shot for La Salle, firing 23 points as his side even took a 49-48 halftime lead over the Tigers.
The Tigers, as was the case for every opponent, were simply too powerful as five players, led by Espino's 22 points, scoted in double figures in the 95-84 victory over the Green Archers. Belmonte, Reyes, and Evangelista all had 14 points apiece, while Fran had 10.
Adamson remained as the only hurdle between UST and an outright championship. But as they say, even the best of teams need some breaks.
The Falcons posed the biggest threat to the Tigers' dreams as they sat at second place with an 11-2 record, but saw two of those wins reversed after one of its players, Estanislao Lopez, was found ineligible. As a result, they fell to a 9-4 win-loss card.
Motivated to stop the streak and shake off the distraction, Adamson went to star Kenneth Duremdes and hulking big man EJ Feihl, but UST was ready for it and counted on its trio of Belmonte, Espino, and Evangelista.
Duremdes was hounded all game long by the relentless defense of Fran and Francis Guinto. He scored 28 points but went just 7-of-28 overall and 1-of-5 from threes. Feihl added 15 to keep the Falcons in the thick of things in a game that saw 19 deadlocks and seven lead changes.
Meanwhile, the Tigers trio combined for 61 points and took over in a nip-and-tuck third quarter, leading a 6-0 salvo that turned a tight 51-48 lead into a 57-48 advantage.
Adamson had no quit in it, getting as close as five, 67-62. But Belmonte buried a big three that made it an eight-point game, 70-62, as UST nabbed the 75-68 victory to celebrate in front of a packed Big Dome crowd and hoist its first title since 1968 since it was named as co-champions with UE.

It was also UST's first solo championship since 1964 in UAAP Season 27 - a team which coach Aric was a part of as a player - to end the school's 29-year title wait.
"Parang isang malaking bato na nakapatong sa 'king dibdib ang nawala," said del Rosario as quoted by Tito Talao of Tempo. "Ang bigat ng pressure na i-maintain ang walang talo na record. Ang hirap. Hindi na nga ako makatulog. Salamat sa Diyos at nalusutan ko din."
At the end of it all, Espino was named MVP as his teammates Evangelista and Fran joined him in the Mythical Team together with Duremdes and Ticzon. Belmonte was also named to the Mythical Second Team.
In all, the Tigers won 14 games by an average margin of 14.79 points, just slightly below the current Ateneo team's 17.4-point win average.
How poetic is it that 26 years later, it's the Growling Tigers who remain as the only hurdle infront of the Blue Eagles in this path to perfection this UAAP Season 82.
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