UP head coach Goldwin Monteverde credits graduating players CJ Cansino and Malick Diouf for their 'big brother' leadership despite falling to La Salle in the UAAP finals

Ateneo forward Kai Ballungay says he will bring with him the lessons he learned while playing for the Blue Eagles as he moves up to the professional ranks

Francis Escandor and Joshua David, who each average less than 5 points this season, come through for La Salle just when the Green Archers needed a scoring punch to take down the UP Fighting Maroons

La Salle stalwart Kevin Quiambao admits the Green Archers got surprised by the ‘different looks’ the UP Fighting Maroons threw at them in the UAAP finals series opener

Harold Alarcon matches his season-high mark in points to help lift the UP Fighting Maroons to a 1-0 lead in the UAAP finals against the La Salle Green Archers

(2nd UPDATE) After a frenetic opener, the UP Fighting Maroons take full to control to halt the La Salle Green Archers' nine-game winning streak and move within a win of reclaiming the UAAP men’s basketball crown

Defending champion NU Pep Squad hopes to capture its eighth title in 10 seasons, but the UST Salinggawi Dance Troupe, FEU Cheering Squad, and the rest of the field look to change the status quo

The UP Fighting Maroons zero in on a second UAAP men's basketball title in three seasons after a 30-point thrashing of the La Salle Green Archers in Game 1 of the finals

Banking on a balanced charge, the UST Tigresses move within a win of their first UAAP women’s basketball crown in 17 years after a Game 1 upset of seven-time champion NU Lady Bulldogs

Here’s a look at both teams’ stalwarts, whose paths crossed way before the UP Fighting Maroons and the La Salle Green Archers arranged a UAAP championship clash for the first time

(2nd UPDATE) A hot-shooting La Salle squad returns to the UAAP men’s basketball finals for the first time in six years, arranging a title showdown against the UP Fighting Maroons after dismantling the NU Bulldogs in the Final Four

The La Salle Green Archers thwart the NU Bulldogs to pick up their ninth straight win en route to arranging a UAAP title clash with top seed UP Fighting Maroons

In a clash of balanced teams and great coaching minds, UAAP defending champion Ateneo and gutsy Adamson head into battle for the last Final Four spot