EJ Gollena has stepped up in a big way for the DLSU Green Archers this season to become an important cog in their title defense.
The reigning UAAP men’s basketball champions, the DLSU Green Archers, have been a dominant force throughout Season 87 in their campaign to defend their crown. They only dropped two games throughout the elimination rounds, and despite losing their first game in the finals to the UP Fighting Maroons, they kept themselves alive by the skin of their teeth with a dramatic 76-75 win in Game 2 to force a do-or-die finale.
It’s been a rollercoaster ride for the Archers to get to this point — albeit filled with more highs than lows, especially in comparison to the other teams. But through their peaks and valleys, one character who has been a constant, reliable presence for the Taft-based squad this season is EJ Gollena.
Though perhaps not the player on the La Salle squad who generates the most noise, Gollena has still emerged as one of the team’s most consistent players in UAAP Season 87. He has started in 14 out of 17 games, played the fifth-most in terms of minutes (224:06 in 14 games) on the court throughout the elimination rounds alone, and scored a total of 95 points as of Game 2 of the finals.
On top of this, he also recorded his season-high 11 points facing UP in their first finals matchup in Araneta Coliseum last Sunday.
These numbers are a far cry from his debut in Season 86 when he played a total of 55:05 minutes and scored 23 points in 12 games.
But beyond the numbers, watching EJ Gollena in action shows that he hustles equally as much on the defensive end of the court. Speedy and shifty, he’s always ready to put his opponents to the test and make them work hard for their baskets.
“Last year, I was just on the bench, and now I’m on the court. I just want to enjoy every moment of it. I’m really so blessed,” he told The GAME in a conversation after Game 2, where EJ came on as a starter and finished with a plus-minus stat line of 11, the highest for La Salle.
Reflecting on his performances throughout the season, EJ shared that his growth was built upon the trust his team has in him.
“I’m really, really blessed and thankful that my coaches, my teammates really trust me to provide them energy, and I just do what I can do,” he said. “I play hard every game. I just match the energy of my teammates. And I really just want them to feel that there’s someone that they can lean shoulder to.”
Though his UAAP debut came in Season 86, Gollena first joined the DLSU men’s basketball team in 2022 as a transferee from Lyceum of the Philippines University. Back at Lyceum, he didn’t get the chance to play in the NCAA, as he focused more on his studies at the time, but after playing in the Phenom Championship Clinic, a grassroots program that competes in different leagues, he caught the attention of the Archers.
Fast forward to today, and he is one of La Salle’s most reliable players. In Game 1 of the finals against UP, Gollena even came out as the top scorer in the first quarter to bring La Salle to a seven-point lead over UP. Though that lead wouldn’t last, it showed the kind of poise he has playing at the most high-stakes stage of the season.
Yet even when things aren’t going great for the La Salle side, as UP put them to the test in both games of the finals series so far, he still manages to keep a level of composure on the court that allows him to drive at the basket with confidence.
“We’re just admiring the atmosphere. We’re just having fun out there. It’s just a once-in-a-lifetime [experience],” he explained with a smile on his face. “It really provides us hype. We really get energetic. And we just focus one play at a time. Basically, that’s the story of it.”
Game 3 is going to require a lot of EJ Gollena. Though his team was in the same position this time last year, against the same team, the 21-year-old plays an even bigger role this year. But he’s embracing the challenge — or the “war” as he calls it — with open arms.
“It’s going to be an all-out battle, all-out war. I’m just expecting the same atmosphere as last year…
“If I talked to myself five years ago, I would never even dream of this. We just tell each other, all of us, to just go wild, enjoy everything that’s happening, enjoy every moment of it, and have fun. That’s basically how we push each other more every single time.”
Banner image by Kieran Punay of KLIQ Inc.