THE 1987 ATENEO BLUE EAGLES
The Blue Eagles were tagged as the
dark horse of the tournament and experts said that they will come out third at
best behind either UE or UP. But when the season was about to start; only
Ateneans were confident enough to brag that the Blue Eagles will win the UAAP
1987 Men’s Basketball title because the core of the team is ripe for a
championship. Like what many people say,
you build a champion team with champion players. The core of the team 83 – 84
champion team had Jun Reyes, JV Gayoso, Alex Araneta, Seph Canlas and Jet Nieto.
The 85 team had Albert Mendoza and Raymund Morales while the 1986 team had
Danny Francisco, Jojo Habana and Olsen Racela. That is four High school
championship teams and you can add to that the NOPSSCEA Finals MVP Nonoy
Chuatico and LSGH National Inter-secondary Champion Eric Reyes, together with
veterans Mel Basa and Haj Jeongco. That
time, and even until now, there was no team loaded with High School championship experience than the
Blue Eagles.
When classes started in the school
year 1987- 1988 the Ateneo community were in for a sneak peek as they played
one of the contenders of the 1987 NCAA, the Letran Knights. The knights
eventually won the NCAA that year and with the Blue Eagles beating them by 15
points was a testament that the Blue Eagles were ready to wreak havoc in the
UAAP. After that practice game, the
Ateneo community got more excited when they met the team during the annual
Ateneo cheer rally. Now that the team is ready as they say all we need now are
the people who will watch the games. Since the Ateneo transferred to the UAAP
all the players saw were empty seats, some family members and some loyal
friends who were there to watch. The University Athletics office would even go
as far as give complimentary tickets to some avid fans that wanted to watch.
But this time it’s different, the bulk of the Ateneo community back then were
the same supporters who watched the 1983 Juniors team beat the UST prep and the
same supporters who came to watch the 12- 0 Blue Eaglets. Then came the supporters
that saw the pain and gains of the 1985 Eaglets that eventually won the
title and the same supporters that saw the 14 – 0 Blue Eaglets. For the first time, the Ateneo Blue Eagles
will be playing alongside a packed coliseum and as the say; finally the Blue
Babble Battalion will have a crowd to lead.
UAAP OPENING vs. UP
The 1987 UAAP opened on July 18, 1987 at the decades old Rizal
Memorial Coliseum. In those years, the opening ceremonies was
attended by the students of all the member schools so you can just imagine
that the Rizal Coliseum was packed to the rafters. The first
opponent of the Blue Eagles and the first game after the opening ceremonies was
the defending champion UP Maroons. Fresh from their monumental win last school
year, the Maroons had the bulk of their champion team coming back with National
team point guard Ronnie Magsanoc, shooter Joey Guanio, defensive stalwart Ramil
Cruz and the strongest force in amateur basketball, the Tower of Power – Benjie
Paras. The Blue Eagles started with Alex Araneta at center, JV
Gayoso and Eric Reyes at the forward spot and Jun Reyes and Nonoy Chuatico as
the guards. The Blue Eagles clogged the middle that made it so hard
for the Maroons to penetrate that made Ronnie Magsanoc take over by scoring 27
first half points. The Blue Eagles took the half 48 – 43 and were in control of
the game. With a packed Rizal Memorial Coliseum, the Blue Babble
Battalion went down to perform with their shades on and that elicited boos from
the other schools that were present. At the start of the second half, the Blue
Eagles were unfazed with the connivance of the other schools to cheer with the
Maroons as the Blue Eagles erected their biggest lead 69 – 58 with less than
ten minutes remaining. Then it happened, the defending champions went inside
the paint and Benjie Paras took over and showed the stuff that they were made
off as they dropped a 22 – 6 bomb to take the upper hand 80 - 75.
Unfortunately, for the Blue Eagles, the player who created the spark to help
the UP Maroons get back was their rookie point guard Alfie Manlulo who was a
part of the 1986 Ateneo Juniors team. Nonoy Chuatico tried to counter with a
three pointer to equalize the count at 80- all that got the Ateneo bleachers
singing their fight songs. However, the Maroons gathered enough steam to quell
the final uprising of the Blue Eagles to eke out an 88 – 80 win. The
team was so eager to put away the defending champions that the opening day
jitters got into the Blue Eagles as they shot a paltry 13 for 33 from the free
throw line that spelled their doom. Was it opening day jitters? The Blue
Eagles lacked the killer instinct needed by a champion team and this they
learned against the defending champions.
GAME 1: OPENING DAY: UP 88
– ATENEO 80,
Adamson 97-NU 77, UE
105-UST 101 (OT) FEU 83-DLSU 79
UP (88) Magsanoc 38, Paras 18, Cruz 14, Guanio 5, Rodriguez 5, Manlulo 3,
Vergara 3, Wenceslao 2,
ATENEO (80) Chuatico 16, G. Reyes 16 Nieto 15, E. Reyes 9, Jeongco 6,
Francisco 6, Gayoso 5, Canlas 3, Racela 2, Araneta 2, Halftime: 43-48
ATENEO WINS OVER ADAMSON and NU
After
that nerve-wracking loss to the Maroons, the Blue Eagles flaunted with defeat
once again against the Adamson Falcons as they gave up a 14-point lead. Roland
Ventura and Juancho Estrada orchestrated a comeback that almost have them win
only to falter in the waning seconds of the game that went to overtime. Losing
another double digit lead and with the game going to overtime, it was the wake
-up call the Blue Eagles were waiting for as the Katipunan squad outscored the San Marcelino cagers 17 – 3 in overtime. Danny Francisco showed why he Ateneans are excited with the new
Eagle on the block by scoring 10 of his team high 14 points in overtime as the
Blue Eagles scored their first win 89 – 75. In their third game against the NU
Bulldogs, this time the shooters had their field day. Nonoy Chuatico scattered
28 points, while Jun Reyes had 22, Jet Nieto netting 13 and Joseph Canlas
scoring 12 as the Blue Eagles ran over the hapless Bulldogs 107 – 94. The news
of the day was that the last two previously unbeaten teams, defending champion UP
Maroons and UE Warriors both lost their games to Adamson and FEU respectively.
As a result of those losses, there was a five-way tie for the top
spot as Adamson, Ateneo, FEU, UE and UP were all tied for first place with
similar 2 – 1 win loss cards.
GAME 2: ATENEO 89 -
ADAMSON 81,
UP 100 – NU 81, UST 88 –
FEU 81, UE 104 – DLSU 95
ATENEO (89) Francisco 14, E. Reyes 14, G. Reyes 12, Basa 12, canlas 12,
Chuatico 10, Nieto 9, Racela 6, Araneta 2, Jeongco 2,
ADAMSON (81) Ventura 23, Estrada 22, Doromal 8, Saitanan 7, Garcia 6,
Cahanding 6, Chua 3, Yao 0 Halftime: 41-34
GAME
3 ATENEO 107 vs. NU 194 :
DLSU 89 – UST 76, ADAMSON
95- UP85 FEU 107- UE 94 OT
ATENEO (107) Chuatico 28, G. Reyes 22, Nieto 13, Canlas 11, Francisco 10,
Habana 6, Mendoza 5, Araneta 5, Gayoso 4, Morales 2, E. Reyes 0, Racela 0,
NU (94) Rey 21, Bautista 17, Artifico 14, LEscano
11, matias 8, Artadi 8, Ferrer 7 Divino 5, Lazo 4 Tan 0, Nicdao 0, Halftime:
54-47
THE MONUMENTAL BATTLE vs UE
Those two wins helped prepare the Blue Eagles for the epic battles
against four contenders that would come after. First, the team that is favored
to win it all, the 1986 runner-up UE Warriors. The Blue Eagles started well as
they held an early 12 – 4 lead thru good defense, fastbreaks and jumpers. The
Warriors immediately clobbered back thru the timely hits of do it all guard
Vernie Villarias to give the Recto squad a 35 – 34 lead. Nonoy Chuatico helped
detonate a 15 – 9 run that saw the Eagles end the first half ahead by five 49 –
44. In the second half,
the Warriors were just within striking distance until they levelled the count
at 60 – all. Then both teams fought toe to toe from thereon until JV Gayoso
baited Jerry Codinera’s fourth foul with three seconds left with the score tied
at 90 – all. Luckily, for the Warriors, the pressure got into Gayoso as he
missed both free throws and the game went to overtime. The Warriors then
took the upper hand right away 93 – 90 until Danny Francisco baited Codinera
for his fifth and last foul. Danny said that it was hard facing Codinera for the first time because Jerry can shoot a jumper , is strong inside and you have to be ready to get the rebounds against him. But with Codinera out of the ball game, the Blue
Eagles took advantage and turned the tables around. With the game about to go
into a second overtime, Jun Reyes was fouled with three seconds left. This time
the Reyes made sure that his free throws would go in as the Eagles notched
their third win with a hard-earned 102 – 100 overtime victory against the UE
Warriors. Six Blue Eagles scored in double figures with Nonoy Chuatico leading
the way with 24 points, Eric Reyes had 16, rookie center Danny Francisco added
15 points, Jun Reyes and JV Gayoso both had 13 points while Jet Nieto added 11
markers. UE’s Vernie Villarias went wild with 35 points and Codinera chipped in
16 points.
GAME 4: ATENEO 102 - UE 102- 100 OT:
FEU 118 – NU 93, DLSU 83 – ADU 71, UP 97 – UST 92
ATENEO (102) Chuatico 24, E. Reyes 16, Francisco 15, G. Reyes 13, Gayoso
13, Nieto 11, Araneta 6, Racela 2, Jeongco 2, Canlas 0, Basa 0,
UE (100) Villarias 35, Codinera 16, Barile 16, Bartolome 13, Longalong
8, Fermin 4, Zamar 4, Hojilla 2, Mariquit
2, Halftime: 49-44 regulation 90-all
Ateneo, FEU, UP (3-1) Adamson, DLSU, UE, UST (2-2) ust 1-3 NU 0-4
THE SHOOT-OUT vs. FEU
Three days after their biggest conquest, the Blue Eagles were ready to
mix it up with another title favorite the Far Eastern University Tamaraws. The
last time these two teams met, the Tamaraws won 2 – 0 to win the MMBL title in
February and the odds favor the tamaraws again. In this game, the Tamaraws went
to Jack Tanuan early and the rest of their frontline that included rookie
Victor Pablo, Andy de Guzman, Dodong Postanes and were on the verge of beating
the Blue Eagles once again by leading by 10 points with less than five minutes
left. It was at this time when
Nonoy Chuatico said “Enough is Enough!” and afterwards drilled in
four consecutive three- pointers to erase that ten point lead and eventually
surge ahead 70 – 66. That run inspired the rest of the team that responded with
an 8 – 2 bomb in the last two minutes to close the game and run away with a 78
– 68 win. Nonoy Chuatico waxed hot as he scored 31 points and was
averaging 27 ppg in their last three games against the Bulldogs, Warriors and
Tamaraws. In the other games, the UE Warriors beat the defending champion UP
Maroons in overtime that gave the Blue Eagles solo leadership with a 4 – 1
slate. It was the third consecutive overtime game of the Warriors
and this time they played their cards right.
GAME
5: ATENEO 78 - FEU 78 - 68
DLSU 91 – NU 90, UST 84-ADu 81, UE 116- UP 110 (OT)
ATENEO (78) Chuatico
30, Reyes G. 12, Gayoso 9, Nieto 7, Canlas 6, Francisco 4, Racela 4, E. Reyes
3, Araneta 2, Basa 1, Jeongco 0
FEU (68) Tanuan
23, Pablo12, De Guzman 11, Cruz 10, Postanes 8, Tiu 2, Burden 2, Nicolas 0,
Latoreno Halftime: 38 - 34
Ateneo, (4-1) FEU, UP, DLSU, UE, UST (3-2) AdU, UST 2-3 NU 0-5
BROUGHT DOWN TO EARTH BY THE GOLDIES
After four consecutive wins and bringing down two big guns, the
Blue Eagles were confident and eager to go and keep their distance from the
other teams. Unfortunately, the University of Santo Tomas Glowing Goldies had
other plans. The game was tight and in the last two minutes, the
Blue Eagles were playing catch up. With 30 seconds left, and the Blue Eagles
down by two points 86 – 88 with the Blue Eagles inbounding the ball, Eric Reyes
saw Alex Araneta free near the basket and threw him a pass. Gido Babilonia
intercepted Eric’s long pitch to Araneta and in the ensuing play, Fedencio
Oblina scored on a jumper that gave the Goldies a 90 – 86 lead with 24 seconds left.
The Goldies eventually won the game 91 – 89 with Oblina scoring 16 points for
the team from Espana. Since both UE and UP won over NU and La Salle
respectively, there was a three-way tie once again for the top spot with the
three teams sporting 4 – 2 win loss cards.
GAME 6: UST 91-
ATENEO 89
UE 96 – NU 90, AdU 87 – FEU
84, UP 123 – DLSU 109 OT
UST (91) Oblina 16, Santos 14, Jose 14, Sichon 10, Franco 8, Salvador
8, Chua 7, Babilonia 6, Tabora 4, 50-55 halftime
ATENEO (89) – Nieto 18, E. Reyes 18, Gayoso 16, Chuatico 13, G.
Reyes 8, Canlas 8, Jeongco 4, Basa 2, Francisco 2, Racela 0, Halftime:
ATENEO, UP, UE 4-2, UST
3-3, FEU, ADU, DLSU 3-4, NU 0-7
THE RIVALRY vs. DLSU
The final game in the hotly contested
first round of the 1987 UAAP Men’s Basketball tournament was against the Blue
Eagle’s archrivals- the De La Salle Green Archers. Although the Blue Eagles did not gain a big lead, they were confident that they had total
control of the game and was never really threatened as the half ended with the
Blue Eagles up by three 58 - 55. Joey Sta. Maria scattered 30 points and
Dindo Pumaren added 18 points but the Archers still lost the game as Jun Reyes,
Jet Nieto, JV Gayoso and Nonoy Chuatico combined for 69 points and always
doused cold water on every Green Archer uprising enroute to a 95 – 91 win. The
first round of action in this year's 50th UAAP season was full of action and
surprises as the Blue Eagles ended the first round tied for first with UP and
UE with 5- 2 win loss cards, UST comes in fourth with a 4 – 3 slate, Adamson,
FEU and DLSU occupy 5th to 7th slot with 3 – 4
cards and NU still winless at 0 – 7. The teams tied for first until the teams
tied till seventh place is separated only by two games.
GAME 7: DLSU 95-91
UST 92 – NU 74, UE 114 ADAMSON 98, UP 105 – FEU 104
ATENEO (95) G. Reyes 21, Nieto 21, Gayoso 14, Chuatico 13,
Francisco 8, Canlas 6, E. Reyes 6, Jeongco 4, Araneta 2, Racela 0,
DLSU (91) Sta. Maria 30, Pumaren 18, Afable 10,
Dinglasan 8, Monasterio 8, Del Rosario 6, Mababa 4, Bachman 4, Favis 3,
Viaplana 0, Abanilla 0
Halftime: – 58-55
No comments:
Post a Comment