UAAP Season 81 basketball tournaments
The UAAP Season 81 basketball tournaments were the University Athletic Association of the Philippines basketball tournaments for the 2018–19 school year.
Former NU Bulldogs athletic director Junel Baculi replaced Atty. Rebo Saguisag as commissioner for the season's basketball tournaments on August 28, 2018. Former Vietnam Basketball Association commissioner Tonichi Pujante was also appointed as assistant commissioner.
The senior men’s and women’s tournaments began on September 8, 2018 while the games of the juniors' division began on November 11.
The Ateneo Blue Eagles and the NU Lady Bulldogs successfully defended their championships this season. Ateneo finished first after the elimination round, followed by Adamson. UP, FEU and La Salle finished tied for third, with UP getting the #3 seed due to tiebreakers. FEU defeated La Salle in the playoff for the #4 seed, and were beaten by Ateneo in the semifinals. Adamson lost out in the semifinals again, losing to UP, who have never been in the semifinals since 1998. Qualifying to its first UAAP Finals since 1986, UP was swept by Ateneo in the latter's second consecutive UAAP title. Thirdy Ravena was named Finals MVP, after scoring a still-standing UAAP Finals record of 38 points in the title-clinching Game 2.
The NU Lady Bulldogs won all elimination round games, qualifying to the Finals outright. FEU emerged through the stepladder playoffs that also involved UST and Adamson as NU's Finals opponent, but were still swept by the Lady Bulldogs. NU won its fifth consecutive title, all unbeaten seasons, for a still-standing league record of 80–0 in the last five tournaments.
In the Juniors' Division, the NU Bullpups and the Ateneo Blue Eaglets finished the elimination round with the top two seeds. NU eliminated the Adamson Baby Falcons, the only team that defeated them in the eliminations, while Ateneo defeated FEU Baby Tamaraws. In the rematch of last year's finals, the Bullpups defeated the defending champions, by winning all two Finals games. The Bullpups won their fourth title since 2011.
Teams
All eight member universities of the UAAP fielded teams in all three divisions.University | Men's team | Women's team | Juniors' team |
Adamson University | Soaring Falcons | Lady Falcons | Baby Falcons |
Ateneo de Manila University | Blue Eagles | Lady Eagles | Blue Eaglets |
De La Salle University | Green Archers | Lady Archers | Junior Archers |
Far Eastern University | Tamaraws | Lady Tamaraws | Baby Tamaraws |
National University | Bulldogs | Lady Bulldogs | Bullpups |
University of the East | Red Warriors | Lady Warriors | Junior Warriors |
University of the Philippines | Fighting Maroons | Lady Maroons | Junior Maroons |
University of Santo Tomas | Growling Tigers | Tigresses | Tiger Cubs |
Coaches
Coaching changes
Venues
The Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay and the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City were the primary venues for the men's tournament, and the venues for the finals series for the women's tournament. The Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan and the Blue Eagle Gym in Quezon City were the alternate venues for the men's and women's tournament, respectively and the main venue for the women's and juniors' tournaments.In the second round of the men's tournament, two game days were scheduled at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.
Men's tournament
Elimination round
Team standings
Match-up results
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.Bracket
*Game went into overtime.Fourth-seed playoff
The Tamaraws and the Green Archers last met in the fourth seed playoff in 2012 in which La Salle won. The winner faces Ateneo in the semifinals while the loser gets eliminated.- Player of the game: Barkley Eboña
Semifinals
Ateneo and Adamson had the twice to beat advantage. Ateneo qualified for its fifth consecutive Final Four appearance, and the second consecutive year where they are the first seed. Adamson, the second seed, was in its third consecutive appearance, and improved on last year's third seed. Third seed UP qualified for its first Final Four appearance in 21 years, last appearing in the playoffs in 1997. FEU advanced to the Final Four in its sixth consecutive season, the longest active streak.Ateneo vs. FEU
Ateneo had the twice-to-beat advantage. Ateneo has faced FEU in the semifinals in three consecutive seasons where the Blue Eagles won the last two series.- Player of the game: Ferdinand Ravena III
Adamson vs. UP
Adamson had the twice-to-beat advantage. The Falcons and the Fighting Maroons were in their first playoff match-up against each other. The winner of the series would be the seventh team to qualify in the Finals in the Final Four era.- Player of the game: Paul Desiderio
- Player of the game: Paul Desiderio
In the second game, the Fighting Maroons kept their guns ablaze as they led by ten points in the first quarter and nine points at half time. Their lead later ballooned already by 16 points, 60-44, but the Falcons countered it with their own scoring with a 23-4 run to take the lead at the end of the third quarter, 67-64. Both teams exchanged leads towards regulation as UP led by three points with less than ten seconds remaining, 78-75. Jerom Lastimosa shot a three-point shot to tie the game once again at 78-all with UP in ball possession. Paul Desiderio missed a shot as the game went into overtime. In the extra period Adamson took a six-point lead already, 84-78, with 2:39 remaining in overtime, but UP scored 6 straight points to tie once again at 84-all with 58.2 seconds remaining. Adamson's top gunner Jerrick Ahanmisi went down with cramps after a contested layup against Bright Akhuetie was waved off by the referee, instead calling it a foul on JD Tungcab on the floor. Ahanmisi missed the remainder of the game. Two free throws were awarded to Adamson because they were already in the penalty. Jonathan Espeleta came in to take the shots in place of Jerrick Ahanmisi but split his freethrows to lead by a point. A three-point shot by Paul Desiderio swang back the lead to UP 87-85 with forty seconds remaining but a foul by UP sent another Adamson player back into the free throw line and tied for one last time at 87-all. Desiderio's jumper over Sean Manganti however put UP back on top 89-87 with 6.6 seconds remaining with Adamson calling its last time out. The ball was given to Jerom Lastimosa to win the game but he missed a three-point shot that would give Adamson the victory, as UP won the game and entered the Finals for the first time since 1986.
Finals
The best-of-three finals began on December 1. It would be the first Finals match-up between the two teams. This is the first time that UP has made it to the finals since 1986, while defending champions Ateneo were in its third consecutive Finals appearance. The winner qualified for the 2018 PCCL National Collegiate Championship.- Player of the game: Matt Nieto
- Player of the game: Ferdinand Ravena III
- Finals Most Valuable Player:
Awards
- Most Valuable Player:
- Rookie of the Year:
- Mythical Team:
- *
- *
- *
- *
- *
Sponsored awards
- Manulife Playmaker of the Season:
- Milo Nutri-up Up Your Galing Performance Award:
- Appeton Most Improved Player of the Season:
- PSBankable Player of the Season:
Players of the Week
Week ending | Player | Team |
September 9 | Jerrick Ahanmisi | |
September 12 | Renzo Subido | |
September 23 | Justine Baltazar | |
September 30 | Sean Manganti | |
October 8 | Wendell Comboy | |
October 15 | CJ Cansino | |
October 22 | Ange Kouame | |
October 29 | CJ Cansino | |
November 5 | Aljun Melecio | |
November 12 | Bright Akhuetie | |
November 19 | Juan Gomez de Liaño |
Statistics
Players' statistical points
Season player highs
Game player highs
Game team highs
Season team highs
Broadcast notes
is the official broadcaster of the UAAP Season 81 Men's Basketball games.Game | Play-by-play | Analyst | Courtside Reporters |
4th seed playoff | Boom Gonzales | Ronnie Magsanoc | Sydney Crespo and Aiyana Perlas |
Semis #1 vs. #4 | Mico Halili | Christian Luanzon | Frannie Reyes and Sydney Crespo |
Semis #2 vs. #3, Game 1 | Boom Gonzales | TJ Manotoc | Sam Corrales and Cor Catibayan |
Semis #2 vs. #3, Game 2 | Nikko Ramos | TJ Manotoc | Sam Corrales and Cor Catibayan |
Finals, Game 1 | Mico Halili | Ronnie Magsanoc | Frannie Reyes and Sam Corrales |
Finals, Game 2 | Nikko Ramos | Christian Luanzon | Frannie Reyes and Sam Corrales |
Women's tournament
Elimination round
Team standings
Match-up results
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.Bracket
Fourth–seed playoff
This is a one-game playoff. The winner advances to the 1st round of the stepladder; the loser is eliminated.Second–seed playoff
The winner advances to the 2nd round of the stepladder with the twice to beat advantage; the loser advances to the 1st round of the stepladder.Stepladder semifinals
Stepladder round 1
This is a one-game playoff. Adamson last faced UST in the semifinals in 2011 in which the Lady Falcons won.Stepladder round 2
FEU holds the twice to beat advantage. The Lady Tamaraws last faced the Tigresses in the first round of last year's stepladder semifinals where UST won.- Player of the game: Clare Castro
Finals
- Player of the game: Jack Animam
- Finals Most Valuable Player:
Awards
- Most Valuable Player:
- Rookie of the Year:
- Mythical Team:
- *
- *
- *
- *
- *
Player of the Week
Juniors' tournament
The juniors' tournament began on November 11, 2018 at the Blue Eagle Gym, Quezon City.Elimination round
Team standings
Match-up results
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.Bracket
Semifinals
NU vs. Adamson
The NSNU Bullpups have a twice-to-beat advantage.- Player of the game: Terrence Fortea
Ateneo vs. FEU
- Player of the game: Joaquin Jaymalin
Finals
- Finals Most Valuable Player:
Awards
- Most Valuable Player:
- Mythical Five:
Overall Championship points
Seniors' division
In case of a tie, the team with the higher position in any tournament is ranked higher. If both are still tied, they are listed by alphabetical order.How rankings are determined:
- Ranks 5th to 8th determined by elimination round standings.
- Loser of the #1 vs #4 semifinal match-up is ranked 4th
- * If stepladder: Loser of stepladder semifinals round 1 is ranked 4th
- Loser of the #2 vs #3 semifinal match-up is ranked 3rd
- * If stepladder: Loser of stepladder semifinals round 2 is ranked 3rd
- Loser of the finals is ranked 2nd
- Champion is ranked 1st