Eddie was famous for the free throw shots which forced the overtime during the 1947 NCAA Championship game that was won by the La Salle Green Archers. He was named Most Valuable Player for that season. He also shot the winning midcourt shot in the dying seconds of the La Salle Ateneo game during the 1948 NCAA Basketball Championship giving him the moniker "Long Tom Decena". He was a shifty ballhandler, a tough defender, and a deadshot. Eddie went on to play in the Philippine National Basketball Team that saw action in the 1948 London Olympics. Unfortunately, Decena didn’t enjoy a long basketball career. He suffered a knee injury during a La Salle exhibition against the visiting Oakland Bittners at the Rizal Coliseum shortly after the London Olympics in 1948 and never recovered from it. Long Tom" Decena will forever be remembered as an Olympian, a La Salle campus hero, and a Christian gentleman.