MANILA, Philippines – Ateneo finally ended years of disappointment with a 62-51 victory over La Salle last night as the Blue Eagles were crowned UAAP champions once more before a joyous crowd at the Araneta Coliseum.
For a few moments during the game it seemed that La Salle was ready to bounce back and force a third and deciding game that would determine this year’s champions.
But the Blue Eagles just wouldn’t fold up, relying heavily on their vaunted defense to finally win it all and complete a two-game sweep of the finals that was expected to be a little tougher.
The celebration on the Ateneo side started with over a minute left and the Blue Eagles ahead, 59-49, on a drive by court general Jai Reyes who added two more charities in the final 29.6 seconds.
Those in the Ateneo stands and those on the bench went crazy as Chris Tiu held on to the ball as the final seconds ticked away. At the final buzzer, Tiu threw the ball as high as he could.
It just got louder and louder as the Ateneo players whooped it up at centercourt, some of them getting up the commissioner’s table to face their supporters who filled more than half of the Big Dome.
“It feels good. I’ve been coaching Ateneo for four years now and I was able to give them a championship. It’s a good feeling. Masaya talaga ako,” said coach Norman Black.
It was his first crown with Ateneo and it was enough to bury the memories of the 2006 finals when they won the series opener but lost the title to the Santo Tomas Tigers.
Last year was also a painful year for Ateneo, as they stood so close to the finals only to be kicked out. La Salle went on to beat University of the East for the 2007 crown.
It was Ateneo’s fourth crown in the UAAP after victories in 1987, 1988 and 2002, the last time they faced La Salle in the finals. Actually it was only the fourth finals meeting between the two teams in the UAAP.
“I’m so happy. I needed to be aggressive because this was my last game for Ateneo. I was already crying with still two minutes left. I was so happy,” said Tiu who delivered 16 points after being held to two in Game One.
“For a while it was a bit scary. But again in the end our defense stepped up like it has done the rest of the year,” said Black after the game, referring to a late rally by La Salle.
Rico Maierhofer was thrown out of the game with 1:31 left in the third period. But the Green Archers rallied behind it, and came dangerously close to Ateneo at 50-47 entering the final quarter.
La Salle severely contested Maierhofer’s ejection caused by two technical fouls, the second one when he appeared to be making the dirty finger sign in the middle of the action.
“I thought when Rico was thrown out of the game we relaxed too much. We have the tendency to do that because he was a key player. And you start thinking that things are ‘gonna be easy,” said Black.
“But instead they (Green Archers) got hotter. Obviously La Salle had the heart of a champion,” he added of the big third quarter for La Salle which hit six triples, including a string of five.
The Green Archers still had chances to come closer than 49-55 but Nonoy Baclao shone on defense, blocking a shot by PJ Walsham. Then JV Casio committed an offensive foul, leading to a basket by Baclao.
By this time, the Blue Eagles and their fans felt victory was on hand.
In contrast, there was silence at La Salle side at the end of the game. From head coach Franz Pumaren to team manager Terry Capistrano, the players and their fans, it was a bitter pill, a very bitter pill to swallow.
Pumaren was so disgusted with the officiating.
“This is the worst officiating I’ve seen for a championship. It’s like giving the trophy to them,” he said at centercourt even if his voice was almost lost amid the big Ateneo celebration.
“It was like a script just to give the trophy to them. The people got robbed of supposedly a beautiful game. You saw the game. It was ridiculous,” he said of the technical foul called on Maierhofer.
“They didn’t give us the chance to play. Now, was it a classic championship game? I’ve been in the finals nine times and this is the worst officiating,” he uttered.
The Blue Eagles started on the wrong foot, and for the first time in three games against the Green Archers this year were behind in the opening minutes of the game.
La Salle went up 4-0 on a one-handed dunk by Ferdinand. But the Indonesian player whooped it up early, and was warned by the referee for taunting the Ateneo crowd.
Nonoy Baclao broke the ice for Ateneo with a surprise triple, and Simon Atkins countered with his own trey for an 8-3 La Salle lead with 7:07 left in the opening period.
Al-Hussaini picked up two quick fouls during that stretch, the second even when he was away from the ball. Black fumed at the referees, and threw his coach’s ID on the floor.
It did fire up the Blue Eagles who suddenly came alive, and went on a 13-2 run for a 16-10 lead. It continued until the second quarter where they zoomed ahead, 27-17.
Al-Hussain sat out the entire second quarter nursing two fouls, and looked happy and proud as Ateneo pulled away for a 41-26 halftime lead.
Tiu had 13 points and Jobe Nkemakolam eight in the first half where Ateneo shot a high 65.2 percent from the floor (15-of-23) and had more rebounds, 16-12. La Salle shot 34.9 percent (10-of-29).