Basketball has a legendary chapter in the history of Liga Deportiva Universitaria. Yes, in the 50s and 60s there were games, rides, and heart attack victories.
Liga Deportiva Universitaria is an inseparable name from the word football, but in 1952 La Liga reached Pichincha’s first title with his remembrance White Ballet.
a basketball team formed by legendary characters How do Rodolfo Arroyo, Jorge Ribadenera, Santiago Olias, Marcelo “Chequeton” Holguin and Gonzalo “Batalucha” Cefalos.
Even They had the luxury of rolling over the mercantile dominance of the land, For an entire decade he was a local basketball champion.
This is amazing The season was great NS University sports league, as it turns out that the football team also got Tournament in Pichincha.
The last title the league won in football was In 1932, when he beat the Gladiator 4-0. Since then, teams made up of college students, and in their ranks many enthusiastic young men from the province, have not reached the finals.
Welcome to Ecuador
“We won both teams in 1952, it was a great year,” recalls Jorge Ribadenera in 2014., who also had a brilliant press stylus and effective mid-range basketball shooting technique.
For something memorable, “Jorgito” Ribadeneira was part of the “White Ballet”.
With this prestigious and award winning team, Face the legendary LDU Harlem Globetrotters, at the Plaza Arenas, the venue where the first basketball matches were played in Quito.
And not only that, on August 13, 1953, on the occasion of the opening of Julio César Hidalgo Coliseum, The league beat the famous Yale University (US), with a ratio of 42 – 38.
Fans packed the theater halls to the brim and praised the team’s skill He defeated his opponent shamelessly.
five gold
It was in 1956 when La Liga reached the top with the inclusion of Oswaldo Arroyo and Rodrigo Burbano, who along with Holguin, “Batalucha” Cefalos and Santiago Olia were part of an unforgettable “”golden pentacle“.
It should be noted here that The coach of these wrestlers was Raúl Vaca, Who later became club president 12 times.
They had no competitor, at least in Quito. They played international and world matches, including the 1958 South American Championship, attended by champions Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Colombia, Paraguay and Chile.
With this team that never wrinkled, Attend the Liga World University Olympiad in Budapest.
“We left in third class on the Américo Vespucio between Puna (Guayas) and Naples (Italy). We paid 4,300 sukrats for a one-way ticket, and they told us they would give us money to go back in first class, but no one showed up, so we also went back in class The third”.
Words from “Chiquitón” Holguín, who was a kid is nothing because he was at least two meters tall.
We left in third class on the Américo Vespucio between the island of Puna (Guayas) and Naples (Italy).
The “Chiquitón” Holguin.
Jorge Ribadeneira, “Jorgito” or “Soflaquito” He was a sports and intellectual figure from Ecuador.
Although he was born in Guaranda, he was Quiteño at heart. In his book “Con Pelé, Rolando y Fidel” published Records of that 26-day trip to Budapest.
Power W in Budapest
“It was a historic participation for LaLiga and Ecuador. We traveled 30 days by boat from Bona Island to Naples, we passed through the Panama Canal, La Guaira, Curaçao, Tenerife, Lisbon. From there we went overland to Budapest”, ralata Ribadeneira.
“One day after we arrived we went to training. We meet my players Denmark , what were they Our first competitor. They weren’t that good, and we were sure we beat them, but They did not attend the match.”
the next day, Czechoslovakia defeated La Liga 100-55. Later he faced teams from universities in Israel, Lebanon, China and the Soviet Union.
The Ecuadorean national team qualified for the next stage They beat Egypt and finally finished seventh among the eight teams that entered the second round.
The match against the Soviet Union (Russia today) left another story. La Liga started with a 2-0 win with Basket of Cevallos “Patallucha”. “Chiquitón” Holguin went to the place where coach Lucho Armas was scheduled to request a minute technical rest.
Then Something unusual happened For those who came to the Colosseum. The five Ecuadoreans went to the bottom of the scoreboard. There you can read, URRS 0 – Equateur 2. I made a small Nicanor Fabara camera and tried to capture it The image we must remember when we beat the Russians in Budapest ”, Narrated by Jorge Ribadenera.
The scene was repeated when the scoreboard indicated 4-2. Then there were no partial victories for the ‘Albos’, as the Russians dominated the events until they achieved a resounding victory from 62 to 41.
The Spanish League also suffered a setback against Bulgaria 85-69, But they defeated Israel, 72-69, and fell to China in the decisive match for fifth place, 95-65.
12 matches in the United States
With ‘Golden Quintet’, in January 1959, Liga Deportiva Universitaria went to the United States to play 12 matches In 45 days thanks to the university exchange program.
The delegation was led by Francisco S. Cúcón, and traveled with Gonzalo Cevallos, Marcelo Holguín, Santiago Ulis, Oswaldo Arroyo, Rodrigo Ribadeneira, Rodrigo Burbano, Efraín López, Ramiro Escalante, Arturo Buenaventura, Rodrigo Araki and Ampudenera. Under the technical direction of Marcelo Ribadenera.
On January 9, 1959 in Miami, LDU beat Jacksonville University 63-53. the next day Beat YMCA, 75-63. In Washington, he beat Roosevelt College Bur 65 A 41.
New Jersey All Stars They also fell to Albo by 61-59.
There has been a decade of golden wins for Liga Deportiva Universitaria in national and international basketball.
According to journalist Jaime Naranjo’s report, on January 20, in Worcester, Massachusetts, Asumption College beat LDU, in overtime, 67 to 64. Two days later, Worcester College defeated ‘U’ 74 to 73.
Later, Oswaldo Arroyo scored a basketball victory over the Livingston National Team. The tour was closed after playing in Niagara Falls, Cincinnati, Baton Rouge and Miami.
So wrote A decade of golden victories for the Liga Deportiva Universitaria In national and international basketball.
