One of the highly recruited Junior standouts who came out of the San Sebastian College Staglets was Ryan Buenafe. Buenafe who was the anchor of the SSC Three peat averaged 30 points and was a legend in his own right and that is the reason why he was highly recruited. Last year he was named Rookie of the year in helping out the Ateneo Blue Eagles win their 4th title. Ryan was never known for his defense but he made sure that Season 72 would be the year that Coach Norman’s offensive threats improve on their defense.
Justin siezes up Elmer
Along with Ryan are former High School standouts who are now defensive geniuses - Bacon
The Ateneo Blue Eagles overcame the spirited momentum shift that the UE Red Warriors had in the second quarter as they came out with a 78 – 71 game 1 win to stay a game away from achieving their second back to back UAAP title. Rabah Al-Husaini torched the Warriors with 28 points as the rest of the Warriors never found an answer to the sweet shooting 6-7 center. Al-Husaini scored 10 first quarter points and was the main man once again in the fourth quarter but that came with a little help from his friends.
Jai Boxes out Llagas
After weathering the storm that came into their lives because of Typhoon Ondoy, Jai Reyes came out focused and all business as he played second fiddle but was instrumental in dousing cold water on the UE Warriors every time they came close to mounting another spirited run. A lot of Ateneans were quite concerned about Jai since word came out of his ordeal during the Ondoy disaster. Jai eventually psyched himself up and he eventually showcased his impeccable shooting as he went 5 of 6 from beyond the arc to support Rabah with 17 points.
Rabah drives to the basket
The Blue Eagles actually fought toe to toe against the Red Warriors in the first few minutes of the first quarter but eventually settled down to a 24-11 lead as Rabah Al –Husaini threw his weight around to score 10 first quarter points. When the second unit of the Blue Eagles came in a lot of fans were quite sure that the Blue Eagles will blow out the Warriors as they raced to a big 33-16 lead with a few minutes left in the half. Unfortunately for them the Warriors are not the same team they beat in the eliminations as the Recto based cagers uncorked a 19-1 run that made them seize the lead at the end of the first half 35-34. Speedy guard Rudy Lingganay spearheaded the Warriors comeback as he fueled the UE run by scoring 9 points while his heads up defense disrupted the Eagles offense.
Nonoy drives
During the paralyzing 19 – 1 run that UE uncorked the Blue Eagles had a hard time breaking the zone defense of the Blue Eagles. Jai Reyes was whistled with two personal fouls that made him ride the bench for most of the second quarter. His back up, Eman Monfort had a hard time sinking his shots while the rest of the Blue Eagles missed their outside shots and were so complacent and lackadaisical in bringing down the ball. This prompted the Warriors to take advantage of the Blue Eagles as they sank three pointers courtesy of Linganay, Val Acuña, Paul Lee and even Elmer Espiritu. Before you know it, the game that was looking like a rout came to life and got a bit more exciting when the Warriors ended the half on top and more importantly confidence in themselves that they can win.
Rabah takes on the UE defense
After bungling a 17 point lead, the Blue Eagles regrouped and brought their whole arsenal on the table. Rabah and Jai both scored 9 points each while Nico Salva added four points off the bench. On the other side of things, Nonoy Baclao and Eric Salamat were playing honest defense on the top gunners of UE Elmer Espiritu and Val Acuña while Kirk Long held Paul Lee to 2 third quarter points. When the fourth quarter came, Paul Lee took matters into his own hands as he brought back the Warriors to life with his heads up play. Lee was the architect of the UE win against FEU and this time around he given the same role once again as his fourth quarter exploits nearly gave them the game. Lee, was his unstoppable self once again and at one point drove through a phalanx of Ateneo defenders and scored amidst the excellent defense of the Blue Eagles.
Jai scores
The Blue Eagles threatened to pull away once again as Jai Reyes scored on two three pointers and Kirk Long added another triple which gave Ateneo a 69-61 lead with less than . Paul Lee and Val Acuña scored once again and they threatened to turn the game around as they were just three points behind 66-69.
One of the booming threes of Jai Reyes
Paul Lee proved to be the moving force behind the Warriors that the Eagles top defenders Kirk Long and Eric Salamat had a hard time containing, so Coach Norman pulled out a surprise defender on Lee –Ryan Buenafe. That switch proved to be a nice ploy as Buenafe banged bodies with Lee, gave Lee a hard time and in what can be judged as the most important play of the game, stole the ball from Lee and fed Rabah Al-Husaini for two points that gave the Blue Eagles a comfortable 73-66 lead with 1:39 to go that was more than enough to seal the win.
Albert Mendoza & Nonoy Chuatico of the
1987-1988 Back to Back Ateneo UAAP Champion team
Box Scores:
ATENEO (78)
Al-Husaini 28, Reyes 17, Salva 8, Buenafe 7, Austria 6, Salamat 4, Long 3, Baclao 3, Chua 2 Sumalinog 0, Monfort 0
UE (71)
Lee 15, Llagas 13, Acuña 13, Reyes 11, Lingganay 9, Espiritu 8, Acibar 2, Zamar 0, Bandaying 0
Quarterscores: 24 -11, 34 – 35, 57 – 53, 78 - 71
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