Blue Eagles nail first win!

Confidence and grace under pressure was what the Ateneo Blue Eagles displayed as the Katipunan based five time defending champions beat the host school Adamson Falcons with plenty to spare 70 – 58.   It was the first win of the Blue Eagles in Season 76 and just like that the Blue and white became contenders once again enroute to their fifth defense of the UAAP basketball crown.  Just like my previous posts, let’s liken some famous movies with what happened in this game.

1.      THE SIXTH SENSE” INGRID SEWA “I see dead people!” That is what he feels whenever he takes free throws. A lot people are saying that shooting free throws is all mental and you need to have focus for the task at hand.  In this game, Sewa missed all his 7 free throws and it felt like he was seeing dead people on the basket. Sewa will most probably pray that every trip to line can someday become a resurrection.

2.      APOLLO 13, - JERICHO CRUZ ”Houston we have a problem!” The only bright spot for the Falcons was the spirited effort of Jericho Cruz who literally carried his team but hardly had enough help from his team mates. Cruz lit up his stats by scoring 21 points, getting 7 rebounds, issuing 3 assists, getting 2 steals and even swatting 2 shots. He was the only one who was able to drive a dagger to the heart of the Blue Eagle’s defense.

3.      STAR WARS - JP ERRAM – “May the force be with you!” Poy was the big difference in this game and the driving force of the Blue Eagles. Erram scored 10 third quarter points with most of them from offensive rebounds.  Erram gave the Blue Eagles the inside presence it sorely needed in the three loses that they had and together with Golla outscored the Adamson big men.  His statline 12 points, 12 rebounds and one block shot.

4.      TOP GUN JUAMI TIONGSON - “I feel the need, the need for speed” I just like the way Juami paced his scoring and did a lot of quarterbacking.  The Blue Eagle Top Gun also pulled down 8 rebounds and shot relatively well as he sank 2 of 4 from beyond the arc and 3 of 5 from the 2 point zone which translates to 55.5 % shooting. The most important difference in Juami’s play is how timely his shots came and this time he was not forcing it.  

    5.      “LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING” KIEFER RAVENA “This will be the end of Gondor as we know it. Here the hammer-stroke will fall hardest.” The return of the King Eagle has the whole Ateneo community excited. Imagine your best player playing for only 11 minutes, scoring only four points and your team winning by a mile. Coach Bo did a good job in breaking in Kiefer and letting him feel his first legit game first and hopefully the King will do more wonders in the coming games. 

     6. “STEP UP 3 “- RYAN BUENAFE –“Single Single, Double Double!”  Ryan is still learning that dance step but is already putting up those numbers. Here is his stat line – 1 steal, 9 Assists, 11 points, 12 rebounds! So just like the patented dance step he had a single, single and a double, double.  A near triple double shows that Ryan has been stepping up and improving his game and more importantly his defense. He has added that occasional three pointer as he has shot at least one in the last four games. The fun thing is that Ryan will most probably Step up more in the coming games. 

    

   7.    THE DARK KNIGHT RISES - CHRIS NEWSOME  “ A hero can be anyone. Even a man doing something as simple and reassuring as putting a coat around a young boy’s shoulders to let him know that the world hadn’t ended.”  Chris is a silent worker, he is a good defender and is versatile as he sometimes brings down the ball, rebounds relentlessly and scores when needed. The Dark Knight was let loose in the third quarter as he patiently waited for his time to come by teaming up with Ryan on the post. 

     8.      A FEW GOOD MEN – BLUE EAGLE BENCH “…You can’t handle the truth" – Gwynne Capacio, Von Pessumal, Isaac Lim,  Ivan Enriquez, Vince Tolentino – for the past three games our bench was outgunned by the opposing teams which leads us to conclude that they cannot handle the second team chores. A little adjustment by Coach Bo and finally our bench came out scoring clearer than a crystal.  This time around we had better numbers 44 - 27 against the Falcons. Here's hoping to better minutes and better numbers to the second team.

    

   9.      THE GODFATHER – FRANK GOLLA “Keep your friends close but keep your enemies closer!” By sticking close to the muscular 6’8 behemoth Ingrid Sewa, Frank was able to box him out, contain him and even outscore him. No one can question the heart of Frank as he never let down in shoving the beast visibly bigger and stronger than him.

  10.  40 YEAR-OLD VIRGIN – COACH BO PERASOL – The first WIN is usually the hardest to get especially when you are on a losing spell. Coach Bo had the right formula in the past three games but was unfortunately undermanned. Now that the team is 95 % complete (G-Boy Babilonia is out for the season) expect better results from the team.  Coach Bo extended his rotation by giving Isaac Lim and Ivan Enriquez adequate time to play and hopefully by the second round the Blue Machine is a mean team.

The Scores:

ATENEO (71)

Tiongson 15, Erram 12, Buenafe 11, Newsome 10, Golla 6, Ravena 4, Capacio 4, Pessumal 3, Tolentino 2, Lim 2, Elorde 2, Enriquez 1

ADAMSON (59) Cruz 21, Cabrera 14, Brondial 8, Sewa 4, Inigo 3, Agustin 3, Rios 2, Monteclaro 2,

Abrigo 2, Trollano 0, Petilos 0, Julkipli 0

Quarter scores: 13-16, 32-28, 57-47, 71-59