THE MAN who towed the Tigers to three elimination games—and almost led them to the title—could not be consoled soon after the De La Salle Green Archers outlast them in Game 3 of the UAAP Finals last Oct. 12.
Cameroonian center Karim Abdul finished with a game-high 26 points and carried the Growling Tigers, especially when team captain Jeric Teng was sidelined by injuries.
But he missed that one important basket that could have sent the game to a second overtime.
Despite being relegated to sixth place with a 4-5 record following three consecutive defeats midway through the season, the Tigers, led by Abdul, came charging back.
They won six of their last seven games, including three straight knockout games against five-peat champion Ateneo de Manila University and league leader National University, to barge into the Final Four and the championship round.
“It’s all mental and you’ll know the quality of a person when his back is against the wall. No matter what, we have to win,” Abdul said of their comeback.
Abdul bounced back from a slow first round performance and became a dominant presence inside the paint, averaging 19 points and 14 rebounds in the second round.
“In the first round, I was really inconsistent so when we talked about what we had to do, I really thought that I had to carry the team especially with Jeric’s injury and because if we lose, we wouldn’t make it so I really put in extra effort,” Abdul said in an interview before their Final Four encounter against National University (NU).
With his MVP-like performances, the 6'6" slot man said he has coach Pido Jarencio to thank for the constant encouragement.
“Coach was really encouraging. He told me I’m the best player on the team and with the injury of Jeric, I really have to carry the team. It made me realize what my role with the team really is,” he said.
With Abdul leading the way, the Tigers went on to make history as the first fourth-seeded team to advance to the finals after disposing of the twice-to-beat Bulldogs.
UST, though, fell short of completing a Cinderella story, winning Game 1 of the Finals, 73-72, before losing the last two to La Salle, 70-77 and 69-71 in overtime.
Turning the season around
Abdul considers the Tigers’ must-win games against Ateneo and Far Eastern University(FEU) as the turning points of their season.
Facing last year’s Finals tormentors for the last playoff spot, Abdul said that it was their desire to win that pushed them.
“It was just all heart, that’s all. I just wanted to beat Ateneo badly. We wanted to make sure we beat them because it was for the Final Four,” he said. Abdul went on to finish with 25 points and nine rebounds to lead the Tigers to an 82-74 victory in that game.
“In the game against FEU, I really thanked [Aljon] Mariano and Tata [Bautista] for sending it into overtime. In my mind, I said ‘we can’t lose’ and it had to end [in the second overtime] so that just kept me going,” said Abdul, who registered 24 points and blocked Mac Belo’s potential game-winner to hack a 79-78 win against the Tamaraws.
Team player
Posting solid numbers game after game pushed Abdul back to the Most Valuable Player (MVP) race for the third consecutive season.
In his rookie year in Season 74, Abdul had a chance to win the top individual award but was disqualified after being suspended for two unsportsmanlike fouls. Last season, he lost by a hairline to NU’s Bobby Parks and this year, Abdul finished fourth. Ralph Joshua D.R. Hernandez and Paul Kennedy A. Lintag
