Ballungay credits resurgent finals game to visit from Ateneo alumni
MANILA, Philippines — Ateneo's Kai Ballungay bounced back from a scoreless game in Game One of the UAAP Season 85 finals as he finished with 15 points in Game Two at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Wednesday.
In a victory that forced a winner-take-all Game Three on Monday, Ballungay came up big for the Blue Eagles who pumped life into their redemption bid.
But Ballungay wasn't keen on patting himself on the back as he credited his recovery to Blue Eagles alumni who visited their practice earlier this week.
Ballungay said that hearing the words from UAAP champions themselves inspired him to come out with a better showing.
"I think it really started Monday night when the alumni came and they spoke to the team. It was real special, not only for the team but for myself especially," said Ballungay.
"Just hearing their stories, the Nieto brothers, [Will] Navarro. All those types of guys, and they were able to instill into me a lot of things that they experienced in their careers," he added.
A first-year player in the UAAP, Ballungay said that he wanted to live up to the legacy that the likes of Matt and Mike Nieto, Navarro, Tyler Tio, Anton Asistio, Raffy Verano and Isaac Go built in Katipunan.
"I really took that to heart and wanted to — like Sean [Quitevis] said — show that type of brotherhood, something that we can live up to, what they did in years past," he said.
Ballungay also expressed his desire to just play his role in the team, whether that ended up with him stuffing the stat sheet or not.
"Game One, it didn't go the way I wanted it, the way this team wanted it. But coming in tonight, I just wanted to impact the game anywhere that I could, whether that be on the glass, scoring, whatever it is. I just wanted to help this team," said Ballungay.
Ballungay and the rest of the Blue Eagles will hope to overcome the early 0-1 deficit against the Maroons and regain the crown on Game Three on Monday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
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