Eagles break rallying Warriors in Game 1

MANILA, Philippines - Big man Rabeh Al-Hussaini played like an MVP while diminutive Jai Reyes, airlifted from the rooftop of his flooded house for the game, dished out a gem of a game as Ateneo thwarted University of the East, 78-71, in Game 1 of the UAAP best-of-three title series yesterday at the Araneta Coliseum.

The 6-6 Al-Hussaini towered over everyone else as he buried 28 points, including eight in the fourth quarter to break the Warriors spirited charge while Reyes tossed in all five of his triples in the second half to help power the Eagles to the victory.

Ateneo, which also beat UE the last time they met in the finals 22 years ago, goes for a sweep and a back-to-back title romp in Game Two on Sunday.

The Warriors fought back from as many as 17 points down to seize a one-point lead at the turn, 35-34, and held on as the Eagles tried to break away again at the resumption of the contest.

But they just couldn’t find an antidote to Al-Hussaini, whose tantalizing performance was reminiscent of his Game One effort last year when he scored 31 points against the La Salle Archers on their way to their first crown in six years.

Reyes, who had to be airlifted from Riverside, Cainta, provided the spunk at the backcourt, using the picks efficiently to sink five straight treys that broke the backs of the Warriors.

For a while, the Eagles appeared headed for an easy victory when they zoomed to a 33-16 lead early in the second quarter on Al-Hussaini’s inside shots.

But the Warriors, shifting from man-to-man to the zone, charged back with a fiery run that gave them a 35-34 edge at the break.

Rudy Lingganay took charge for UE in the second period, pouring in all his nine points, including six coming off three steals.

But Reyes, slowed down by fouls in the early going, came to the Eagles’ rescue in the third period, single-handedly destroying UE’s zone and giving Eagles the momentum.

Al-Hussaini, last year’s MVP, took over in the fourth to ensure the victory.

“We played very well in the first quarter especially their man-to-man defense. When they went to a zone against our second team we struggled a lot and we couldn’t make our outside shot,” said Ateneo coach Norman Black.

“It also hurt us that Jai was in foul trouble in the first half. But if they play us man-to-man it’s going to be easy for us to get the ball to Rabeh. If they play the zone it’s going to be more difficult so we have to be more creative on how to get Rabeh the ball. That’s what we did in the second half,” Black said.

Black, however, said Reyes was the key to everything.

“Reyes made clutch three pointers. Basically, he really broke their zone open by making the outside shots. Sometimes it takes one guy to get it done and Jai was able to knock down his shots tonight he really broke their zone and really gave us a chance to win the game,” said Black.

UE mentor Lawrence Chongson agreed.

“We know Al-Hussaini will get his numbers so we tried to limit the rest but Jai Reyes came out big tonight – he made three points after three points to keep them afloat when we were making a rally,” said Chongson.

Paul Lee, who torched the Far Eastern U Tams with 43 points in their pair of shock 84-74 and 78-72 Final Four wins, came off the bench to fire 15 points.

For a while, it looked like he’d bail the Warriors again as he unloaded a nine-point barrage in the first seven minutes of the final period.

From eight points down, UE closed to within, 66-69, from a Lee triple and a pair of foul shots, three minutes left.

But Al-Hussaini scored on a break from a UE turnover and knocked down four more to secure the Eagles’ win.

“He’s (Lee) going to be the headache on Sunday also – it’s not going to end. He’s going to be a headache for us. Their backs are against the wall now so even more so he’s going to come out firing so we just have to continue to defend him – we’re not going to stop Paul Lee, we’ll just try to control him the best we can,” said Black.

UAAP NOTES: The Eagles also found ways to take away the players’ distraction from tropical storm ‘Ondoy.’ ‘I’m not going to say it’s easy because some of our players were really affected by the floods. Our campus was heavily hit and then a lot of our players are living in Marikina, some in Antipolo so they’re affected by the flood,’ said Black. ‘A lot of their homes were flooded. UE probably had the same concerns but it was very difficult getting them focused. In case of Jai, he was stuck in his roof for 24 hours where the flood was all the way up to the second floor so you can imagine how hard it is for him so we try to support him as much as we could so he could get over the incident as much as possible,’ he added.

The scores:

Ateneo 78 – Al-Hussaini 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, Acuna 13, Reyes 11, Lingganay 9, Espiritu 8, Acibar 2, Zamar 0, Bandaying 0

Quarterscores: 24-11; 35-34; 57-53; 78-71