La Salle keeps UAAP overall title

MANILA, Philippines — Despite a heartbreaking end to its volleyball reign, La Salle still emerged as the best UAAP school with a league-best six championships, boosting the Archers to the overall crown for the second straight season.

The Green Archers, who surprisingly snapped the 14-year dominance of University of Santo Tomas last year, came out on top anew after amassing 289 points.

Aside from ruling the most popular men’s basketball event, the Archers also ruled the sport’s distaff side, men’s taekwondo, men’s table tennis, women’s judo and women’s chess.

La Salle will receive the general championship trophy in the league’s closing ceremony Wednesday at Century Park Hotel in Manila.

The Athletes of the Year and other special awards will also be handed out during the ceremony.

UST, which settled for second place with 274 points, lost the juniors overall crown as well to University of the East.

The Junior Warriors snapped the Tiger Cubs’ seven-season reign with a 139-point total built on seven championships from boys’ and girls’ fencing, boys’ volleyball, girls’ swimming, table tennis, taekwondo and athletics.

UST picked up only two senior titles in women’s taekwondo and poomsae, but finished in the top three of several sports like basketball, athletics, football, beach volleyball, softball, tennis, table tennis and fencing.

University of the Philippines wound up third with 235 points after ruling men’s and women’s swimming and women’s table tennis.

Ateneo, fresh from scooping the women’s volleyball crown, had four other title runs in men’s and women’s badminton, men’s judo and baseball to tally a fourth-best 224 points.

Far Eastern University, which made history as the first school to sweep all three football divisions, also dominated athletics and ruled men’s chess for a 193-point total.

National University came in next with 169 points, followed by UE with 138 and host Adamson with 116.