Eagles claim year's third crown

MANILA, Philippines - Ateneo bucked a fourth quarter meltdown as it leaned on Jai Reyes’ clutch baskets down the stretch, turning back Far Eastern U, 74-70, yesterday and clinching the Philippine Collegiate Champions League crown at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City.

Reyes fired a triple in the last 2:30 minutes of the contest, snapping Ateneo’s five-minute scoring spell while the Eagles held the Tams scoreless for a closing 7-0 blitz that turned a 67-70 deficit into a rousing victory.

The win thus capped Ateneo’s banner season in the collegiate league that also saw the Eagles complete their back-to-back title romp in the UAAP before bagging the Unigames crown.

For a while, the Tams appeared headed for a big comeback from a 12-point deficit as they silenced the Eagles in five-and-a-half minute stretch in the last period to transform a 61-67 deficit into a 70-67 lead with 2.45 minutes left in the match.

But Reyes, playing his last game for Ateneo, buried a triple and Chris Sumalinog foiled a Paul Sanga jumper on the other end before scoring on a basket in the last 45.2 seconds as the Eagles regained the lead, 72-70.

Ryan Buenafe secured the victory with a pair of free throws as the Eagles completed a 2-1 series win in the tournament which gathered the best collegiate teams in the land.

The victory also came as a fitting present for Ateneo, which celebrated its 150th anniversary last Saturday.

“It was really a tremendous year for us, I couldn’t ask for more,” said Ateneo coach Norman Black.

He paid tribute to Reyes, who finished with 17 points that included four triples, and Nonoy Baclao, who skipped his game with the Philippine Patriots against the Brunei Barracudas in Brunei last night to backstop the team’s title bid.

Baclao finished with four points, five rebounds, two assists and a shot block as he filled the slack left by Rabeh Al-Hussaini, who opted to skip the championship series.