Blue Eagles regain UAAP throne

MANILA, Philippines — It did not take long for the UAAP crown to find its way back to the Blue Eagles’ nest.

Fueled by a stinging downfall last season to relinquish its three-year reign, Ateneo exacted sweet revenge on rival University of the Philippines and regained its rightful position as king of UAAP basketball.

The Blue Eagles, following the heartbreaking loss at the buzzer seven months ago, prevailed in the rematch of the Battle of Katipunan with a gritty 75-68 win in the Season 85 finals winner-take-all Game 3 in front of 21,814 fans last night at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.

Ange Kouame, the Season 84 MVP, stamped his class in the biggest stage once again with 19 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks as the Blue Eagles averted another meltdown for their fourth title in the last five seasons and 12th overall.

It was a fitting swan song for Kouame, also the Gilas Pilipinas’ naturalized player, in his last year for Ateneo en route to a Finals MVP citation on averages of 17.7 points, 11.0 rebounds and 3.0 blocks in three games.

Forthsky Padrigao (12) and Gab Gomez (12) chipped in big contributions while BJ Andrade had 10, including the insurance free throws for the Blue Eagles, who pulled off a reverse sweep riding on a 65-55 Game 2 win after a 72-66 Game 1 loss.

“I could probably speak all day about the UP program and the UP faithful. It’s been amazing. They have a phenomenal coach and they don’t quit ever. We never expected them to quit. My words will always be insufficient about their performance. They were unbelievable. It’s been a wonderful competition and we’re really blessed to win it this time,” said coach Tab Baldwin, whose wards were struck by JD Cagulangan’s iconic game-winner last season.

“The reason was these guys (Blue Eagles) out here (and the fans). They believed in us. We believed in one another. We had a great start, a great first half and we weathered the (UP) storm,” he added.

Eager to cap a redemption tour, Ateneo started like a house on fire at 9-0 behind Padrigao’s personal 5-0 blast before widening it to a commanding 30-12 upperhand on Matt Daves’ putback.

UP displayed a better showing in the second period as Carl Tamayo and Season 85 MVP Malick Diouf slowly regained their touches. But Ateneo, with Kouame anchoring this time, maintained control at 57-42 at the half.

But that was when things turned into a wild roller-coaster ride.

As the Blue Eagles seemed to have their sweet glory back in the fold with another strong start for the biggest lead of the game at 52-32, the resilient Fighting Maroons fought back with a scorching 18-4 uprising highlighted by James Spencer’s triple to strike within 50-56, still 3:01 in the third quarter.

Gomez, however, was quick to silence the Fighting Maroons by swishing three freebies off a foul from downtown while Ange Kouame split his charities from Cagulangan’s unsportsmanlike foul.