Chot, Len, Mike, Jun and Billy, they are the Reyes brothers of the Ateneo who honed their basketball skills in the Ateneo but unfortunately took different basketball paths in college. A lot say Chot is the brainy one, Len the scorer, Mike the shooter, Jun the most prolific and Billy the most versatile. Chot would become a champion mentor while Jun would lead the Blue Eagles to back to back championships. Twenty one years after that back to back championship by Jun, his nephew who is Len’s son would duplicate the feat as Jai Reyes together with Rabah Al-Husaini and Nonoy Baclao led the Ateneo Blue Eagles to back to back titles after upending the gallant stand of the University of the East Red Warriors 71-58. The tradition continues.
Rabah is hacked
After getting blown away by the Warriors in game 2, the Blue Eagles were all business as Rabah Al-Husainin scored 11 first quarter points to lead the Blue Eagles to a 21-17 lead. The UE big guns tried to match the fire power of the Blue Eagles who had six fastrbreak points in the opening 5 minutes with Kirk Long getting two and 1 plays but muffing two gift free throws after the foul. Nonoy Baclao also scored on the break after getting a pass from Jai in traffic. UE's last lead stood at 8-6 but when the Blue Eagles equalized there was no more token resistance from the Warriors. It was an all Rabah quarter and event if Jai Reyes was missing his shots he dished out 4 of his game high 6 assists in that quarter.
Nico confronted by Lee
Come the second quarter the complexion of the game suddenly turned to the side of the Blue Eagles who used a paralyzing 12 -0 run to end the half. After Paul Lee scored on a drive with 6:05 left in the second quarter, the Eagles went to work by shutting down the Warriors and scoring almost at will. Ryan Buenafe scored 4 points, while Jai and Kirk scored three apiece and Jai also dished out his fifth assist on Rabah Al-Husaini to give the Blue Eagles a 40-25 advantage come halftime.
Nonoy is fouled
The Blue Eagles set the tone early with their defense as they held the Warriors to 29% shooting and led UE in almost every statistical category. The most telling among them is the 7-1 assist disparity and the 30 -16 edge on inside points. That alone signaled the downfall of the Warriors in the second quarter. The quarter ended with Ateneo scoring 19 points and the Warriors could only muster only 8.
Ryan leans on Pari
After the break, the UE Warriors started the quarter with two three pointers courtesy of Elmer Espiritu and Val Acuña. This signaled the surge of the UE Warriors as they tried gallantly to rally their team, unfortunately for them the Blue Eagles were not about to let them come back. Enter the gunslinger Jai Reyes who showed that his misses in the first half was just his way of sizing up his shots as he rattled three three pointers that eventually broke the backs of the Warriors.
Rabah ends his UAAP career with a break away dunk
Jai’s third three pointer with 58 seconds left gave the Blue Eagles a commanding 57- 39 lead while their defense was on 24-7 which led to a 57-41 lead at the end of the third quarter. This was enough cushion for the Blue Eagles as they head to the fourth quarter knowing that the UE Warrior would still comeback. Like what we always say, its best to start the fourth quarter up by a big margin.
Blue Eagles regroup
Come the fourth quarter everyone was waiting for a final push by the Warriors but unfortunately it did not come. In the four previous games of this two teams UE had a big run in each of the games. This time, the Blue Eagles made sure it will never happen. Suddenly the top gunners of UE were stifled and could not get its act together.
Ryan Buenafe stole the ball and even blocked Paul Lee who was shut down in the first few minutes of the fourth. Val ACuña was hot and cold, Elmer Espirtu was worn out come the fourth quarter, Rudy Lingannay was firing blanks, Raphy Reyes never got anything going and the big story was Pari Llagas who ended his UAAP career with a 0 for 7 shooting from the field. In the end , the Blue Eagles showed that they are indeed the best team in the UAAP by coming back and frustrating the Warriors.
Erik eludes his defender
Coach Norman Black’s post game remarks described the team very well he said “This team handled adversity well and they showed that they knew how to come back” at the same time he added “Experience is the best teacher. The loss in 2006 was something we did not want the others to feel that is why they did their best to win the title!” For the record, this is the first time that a double championship went back to back! Now that this is all over , lets all dream of a double three-peat! CONGRATULATIONS TO THE ATENEO BLUE EAGLES! ONE BIG FIGHT!!!
Rabah scores
ATENEO (71)
Al-Husaini 21, Reyes 16, Buenafe 10, Baclao 8, Salamat 8, Long 7, Salva 2, Monrfort 0,
UE (58)
Lee 21, Espiritu 16, Acuña 8, Lingganay 5, Zamar 3, Llagas 3. Reyes 0, Ayala 0, Duran 0,
Quarter scores: 21-17, 40-25, 57-41, 71-58
Back to Back!
No comments:
Post a Comment