Ateneo vs La Salle in Season 71 Finals

Who says Chris Tiu needs to score big in order for Ateneo to win? What happens to Ateneo if Rabah Al-Husaini doesnt get his numbers? Well the answer came out today and the answer to that is that the Ateneo Blue Eagles will always find ways to defend, score and win! The Ateneo Blue Eagles struggled in the early going but nonetheless found their form as they barged into their fifth finals appearance this decade after a sunday massacre over the No. 4 seeded UE Red Warriors 70-50.

The win gave the Eagles another reason to smile as it gives them an opportunity toa avenge their 2007 loss to the other finalist, their archrivals and defending champions, the de La Salle Green Archers.

The UE Red Warriors started out strong by giving the Blue Eagles headaches in the first few plays. James Martinez scored on a floater, a three pointer and a steal off Jai Reyes to give the Warriors an early 11-7 lead. Chris Tiu missed his first four shots and had one turnover as the BLue Eagles started flat on his offensive drought. Jai Reyes on the other hand was oozing with confidence as he scored on two triples plus a jumper to breathe life to the Eagle's offense. Eric Salamat then came to the rescue as he teamed up with Jai Reyes to give excitement once again to the Blue Eagles as Salamat scored on a three pointer and then a fastbreak to fuel the Eagle's 10 - 0 blast. In a wink of an eye the quarter ended with the Blue Eagles up by six, 17-11.

The second quarter started with Eric Salamat continuing his defensive intensity and piling up points through his fastbreaks as the Eagles stymied the Warrior's offense and scored a bunch of points on their own. The Eagles forced the Warriors to nine turnovers and more importantly translated these turnovers to points. The Warriors were not moving the way they did when they almost upset the Blue Eagles two weeks ago and were slow to get down. The first five minutes saw the Warriors get Eleven possessions, 8 of which became turnovers, two of which became missed shots while in the only other possession, Elmer Espiritu converted two free throws. With that the Blue Eagles surged ahead to a 25-13 lead which they never relinquished. The Warriors suddenly got hot as Pari Llagas and Lucas Tagarda hit back to back three pointers to pull the UE squad to within eight 27-19. The Blue Eagles ended the quarter still leading 32-21 after committing 11 turnovers. The big difference was that the Blue Eagles capitalized on the turnovers of the Red Warriors while UE did not capitalize on Ateneo's miscues.

In the third quarter, the Eagles pounded the inside and held the Red Warriors to a measly 7 point quarter. Like what they say, the Eagles did not win because of their firepower, but because of their defense. Marcy Arellano could not get his game going as he went 0 for 6 on the field and 0 of 2 from the line, it just shows the frustrating defense of the Blue Eagles rubs on you even if you are taking free throws. Only Pari Llagas' drive and Elmer Espiritu's jumper and three pointer were the points scored by the Red Warriors. In contrast the Blue Eagles torched the Red Warriors with 17 third quarter points, five coming from Nonoy Baclao off two spectacular plays and four coming from Rabah Alhusaini. The Eagles scored 1a total of 19 points off the UE Turnovers while the Warriors only had four points off it.

The Eagles started the fourth quarter with an 8-2 run courtesy of the second three pointer by Nonoy Baclao of the season, after that he scored again on a putback off an Eric Salamat miss. Then the 'Baste Boys contributed two points each Ryan and Eric for the Ateneo and Paul Lee for UE via two free throws. With that the lead of the Blue Eagles was at its highest at 26 points 56-30! The Warriors never recovered and as Mr. Smith in the movie "the Matrix" would say, Ateneo's win was inevitable. In the end the rest of the Blue Eagles showed that they too can score as Chris Tiu was held to 2 points and was just content in dishing assists and making sure that his team mates would do the dirty laundry. In the end, its the win that matters which was the third largest margin in UAAP final four history. James Martinez led the Warriors with 13 points. It was the last game of Elmer Espiritu, Hans Thiele and Marcy Arellano for the Red Warriors.

The Ateneo vs. La salle Season 71 Finals will be the fourth finals between these two squads with the Blue Eagles enjoying a 2-1 edge and is also favored to win this finals series. The Eagles won in 1988 and 2002 while the Archers got the 2001 series. The BLue Eaglets on the other hand are out to regain the Juniors diadem as they beat the Adamson Jr Falcons for another finals appearance. The defending Juniors champs on the other hand, DLS-Z, was derailed by the FEU-FERN team. But i expect this one to be a Seniors and Juniors championship for both Ateneo and La Salle. The first of its kind so you better line up at the Araneta Center for tickets for Sunday's game. One Big Fight!

The Scores

ATENEO (70)

Reyes 13, Baclao 12, Salamat 11, Al-Husaini 10, Buenafe 9, Salva 5, Tiu 2, Escueta 2, Long 2, Sumalinog 2, Gonzaga 2, Baldos 0, Nkemakolam

UE (50)

Martinez 13, Espiritu 11, Llagas 8, Lee 8, Thiele 4, Tagarda 3, Zamar 3, Lingganay 0, Arellano 0

Quarter scores: 17-11, 32-21, 49-28, 70-50

Attendance is more than 21,200

ATENEO WINS OVER UE 61-57

As the season progresses the UE Red Warriors become hungrier and focused on beating the Ateneo Blue Eagles. After that Chris Tiu jumper in the NSL and first round loss to the Eagles, the Red Warriors thought that this was one game that won’t slip away until Ateneo got its act together just in the nick of time to eke out an ugly 61-57 overtime win over UE. This is as ugly as any game could get as the Blue Eagles crawled back from an eight point deficit and shooting slump to nail four three pointers in the payoff period to beat the hard fighting and hard defending Red Warriors.

The first quarter started with both teams scoreless for almost two minutes as Mike Baldos found the bottom of the net with a lay up off the UE press with 8:10 to go. Ateneo led 4-0 until UE leveled at 6-all when Paul Lee who did not play in the first round against Ateneo and James Martinez sank two consecutive triples to level the count. Both teams were electrified on defense as the Eagles were forced to four early turnovers while the Red Warriors got five offensive rebounds but no putback points. The Chris TIu paced the Eagles with 6 first quarter points as Rabah struggled because of the immediate double team on him by the Red Warriors as the quarter ended with the Warriors on top 13-12.

The second quarter saw defense settle in with a lot of turnovers and missed shots. The Blue Eagles averaged 14 turnovers per game but was forced into 15 turnovers in the first half alone. Credit it to the intense defense of the Warriors. The only thing that kept the Eagles in the game was their ability to get inside, get some fouls and score on the line. The Blue Eagles lead the league in most free throws attempted while in contrast the Red Warriors are the last in that department. The period ended with the Warriors still on top 22-21.


In the third quarter, Ateneo threatened to pull away by erecting an eight point lead 30-22 mainly through the efforts of Nonoy Baclao< style=""> The third quarter ended with the Warriors still on top 42-36.

Ateneo has never trailed a game going to the fourth quarter, the only time they did not was on a 47-all tie with guess who – the Warriors. As the game progressed it was looking like an upset in the making. The Warrior’s zone defense has done wonders since Ateneo was shooting 0 of 11 from beyond the arc. After Eric Salamat scored on a drive Marcy Arellano scored four consecutive points to give UE an eight point lead 46-38 which signaled another Ateneo timeout by Coach Norman Black. After that timeout the Blue Eagles were a different team as they uncorked their own run courtesy of the two three pointers by Captain Chris and another one by Ryan Buenafe that suddenly saw the Eagles cut the UE lead to one 47-48 with 2:59 left to play. The most crucial play of the game came when Chris Tiu got the ball, almost lost it, dribbled past two defenders off a screen, faked the shot and nailed the three pointer from beyond the professional three point line and tied the score 50-all to send the game to overtime.

By the time the overtime came, Captain Chris cramped out as his muscles took its toll after playing for nearly 40 minutes. After he left, Rabah, Ryan and Nonoy took matters in their own hands. Rabah scored four, Nonoy four and Ryan the most important three points of the game most specially his dipsy doo over three UE defenders that gave the Eagles back the lead 59-57 with 21 seconds left. After Nonoy stamped his defense over the high flying Elmer Espiritu by bothering his shot, he scored the insurance baskets with two free throws to give the Blue Eagles a league leading 10-1 slate.

MVP candidate Rabah Al-Husaini experienced a rough night but still scored 19 pts and pulled down 11 rebounds. Nonoy Baclao also had a double by scoring 10 pts hauling down 13 rebs and getting 2 blocks. The win was really an ugly one since the Blue Eagles shot an excruciating 29 % from the field, the worse FG % to win a game in the UAAP. As they say, a win is still a win however ugly it may be. Nesxt stop, the UP Maroons, GO Ateneo. Thanks Nono for the pictures.

ATENEO beats UE, now 3 - 0

High octane offense, straight in your face defense and heart pounding action, the fans were not disappointed with the way things came out as the two only unbeaten teams fought like two true Titans seeking to become the only unscathed team. The Ateneo Blue Eagles and the University of the East Red Warriors engaged in a blink and you’ll miss the action match and after 40 minutes of non-stop action, the Blue Eagles came out as the only undefeated team as evidenced by their 64-58 over the previously unbeaten Red Warriors. Again it was another fourth quarter meltdown for the Red Warriors as the Eagles shut them down in one stretch of the fourth quarter as Ateneo showed their heft and might in securing the early lead in the 71^st season of the UAAP. This win avenged their two previous losses in season 70 as the Warriors were the only team that the Eagles did not beat last year.

The Eagles started with Nonoy Baclao, Ryan Buenafe and Rabah Al-Husaini up front with Jai Reyes and Chris Tiu as the guards. The Warriors on the other hand had Elmer Espiritu, Gino Etrone & Pari Llagas at the frontcourt while James Martinez and Marcy Arellano manned the back court.

The first quarter saw both teams try to be deliberate and set up their offense. Unlike their game in the NSL championship where the Warriors rained outside shots, the Eagles were prepared for the sweet shooting Warriors as they more than often had a hand in the face of its shooters. Elmer Espiritu started things for the Warriors with two quick baskets and a jumper while Nonoy Baclao & Chris Tiu countered with four points each for the Eagles. The Warriors were leading 9-8 for quite sometime as both teams exchanged defensive gems and forced each other to turnovers. Just like the game against Adamson, Coach Norman rotated the Eagles on the floor as the game progressed with Yuri Escueta, Nico Salva, Jobe Nkemakolam, Eric Salamat and Bacon Austria ending first 10 minutes. The quarter ended with Eric Salamat’s four free throws to give the Eagles a 12-10 lead.

The second quarter saw the Eagles rack up some points right away as they raced to a 21-13 lead with Chris Tiu, Nonoy Baclao, Eric Salamat & Rabah Al-Husaini combining to give the Eagles that lead. The Eagles were playing an excellent team game as evidenced by one play which had Jai drop a pass to Nonoy Baclao who upon seeing the double team come passes the ball to a surging Jobe Nkemakolam and the Eagles take a 23-15 lead. Then the Warriors came back, James Martinez nails a three while rookie Paul Zamar beats the shotclock for another UE three and Pari Llagas scored four points inside. Before you know it the Red Warriors took control of the game with a 14-5 run to end the first half on top 27-26. UE was 4 of 9 from the three point area while the Eagles was zero of 2 from beyond the arc. The Warriors also controlled the boards with a 25-15 advantage in rebounds.

The wild and wooly third quarter saw both teams go up and down the court and try to outdo each other as both teams offense switched to high gear. The quarter started with the Eagles racing to a 35-29 early lead once again as Nonoy Baclao and Eric Salamat scored on field goals together with Yuri Escueta’s three pointer as against a dunk shot by Elmer Espiritu. Every time Ateneo would try to break away UE finds an answer to stay within striking distance. Paul Zamar belched a three pointer while Pari Llagas scored on a Marcy assist to put them to within three 35-32. On the other end Rabah Al-Husaini scores on a Chris Tiu assist , and on a putback from a Baclao miss.

In an instant UE counters again with a third Zamar three pointer and a Hans Theile jumper off the fastbreak. Nico Salva counters on the other end with a drive to the hoop and so does Rudy Lingannay. Rabah scores on a putback and Pari Llagas scores off Rabah. Lingganay then strips Bacon Austria of the ball and scores on a fastbreak. Ryan Buenafe drives to the hoop and scores on a hang time twinner and UE returns the favor with a Linganay "stop ball" jumper. In the end of all these wild and wooly sequences the quarter ended where it started - tied. UE caught up and leveled at 47 - all after being down by seven points in this quarter. Like what they say there were no quarters taken and there were none given.

The fourth quarter was highly anticipated by all Blue Eagles fans as the Ateneo defense which they have showed in the past two games goes a notch higher in the payoff quarter. The Warriors missed the services of one of its gunners in Paul Lee as his offense was missed more importantly during their scoring drought. The Eagles start the payoff quarter with two rookies (Buenafe & Salva), two sophomores (Austria & Long) and one veteran in Al-Husaini. UE immediately went to work as Hans Theile scores to give the Warriors an early 49-47 lead.

Ateneo needed another hero for this game and it was the same scoring machine who scored heavily on the Warriors in the NSL title game – Rabah Al-Husaini. The big fellah used his height to stamp his class over the Warriors as he scored eight of his team high 18 points in the fourth quarter and pulled down a total of 17 rebounds plus three assists. This is his coming out game in the UAAP. His supporting cast consists of Nonoy Baclao, Ryan Buenafe and captain Chris Tiu. Nonoy was his usual self providing excellent defense and was pretty much mobile around the perimeter area. He got an all important put back in the final minute of the game to seal the victory. Ryan Buenafe used his daredevil drives to attract UE defenders to double on him so that he can create situations that eventually resulted in easy Ateneo baskets. Chris Tiu was there to stabilize the team as his offense came when the Eagles needed it and gave great advices to other team members once they commit turnovers.

In the three games that the Eagles played they showed improved defense as they shut down all their three opponents in the fourth quarter by limiting them to an average of 13 pts while scoring an average of 24 points. The Eagles are now 3-0 and is the only unbeaten team.

Yesterday the DLSU Green Archers led by Jayvee Casio’s 29 points barged into the win column with a 73-62 win over the FEU Tamaraws. They are joined by the UST Growling Tigers who bounced back as they unleashed their true form with a rout over the UP Fighting Maroons 94-75. Earlier the Adamson Falcons defanged the NU Bulldogs 73-65 courtesy of Mark Agustin’s awesome 25 points game. Adamson is now 1-2 while the Bulldogs are the only winless team. Next stop for the Blue Eagles the hosts, UP Fighting Maroons. Good luck to the Eagles and I hope they get their fourth straight win.