Ateneo Blue Eagles Game #3 A Big Lift

A Big Lift

Ateneo 68 vs. UST 56

words by rick olivares pic by raddy mabasa

Justin Chua played 4 minutes during Ateneo’s opening day match versus FEU. Didn’t get off the bench for even a second during the win against Adamson. Yet come the Blue Eagles’ crucial game with the University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers, he found himself in the starting unit.

“It was just a gut feel,” said Ateneo coach Norman Black of his decision to use Chua and start him in place of the ineffective JP Erram. “I felt I needed a little more scoring in the low post from my big guys and I wasn’t getting it from JP Erram. Justin has had a great attitude. He’s been working hard in practice and he hasn’t complained that he hasn’t been playing so I gave him a chance. And it worked out well today.”

With 6:35 left in the 4^th Quarter and the Blue Eagles leading by a deuce 51-49, Chua found himself alone just before the three-point arc when the ball swung to him. Without hesitation, he launched a long jumper that found the bottom of the net.

Following a shot clock violation by UST, the Tigers’ forward-center Chris Camus was inside the lane guarding against the drive when the ball worked its way around back to Chua in almost the exact same spot where he previously made his long tom. Camus rushed out to challenge the shot but it was too late. The ball swished right through and it was 55-49 for Ateneo.

“Coach (Black) would always tell me that when I’m in a position to shoot then I should take it because if I put the ball down, I could lose it and the opportunity might not be there again.” recalled the third-year center of the American mentor’s repeated exhortations to be more aggressive during the game.

The start and big game by Chua caught UST by surprise. “Akala ko kami lang meron surpesa,” quipped a gracious UST coach Pido Jarencio after the match. His Tigers, which hardly played in any pre-season tournament, caught everyone by surprise during opening day with superb performances from relative unknowns Ed Daquiog and Aljon Mariano. “Dati meron silang (Chris) Tiu ngayon Chua.

While Chua’s fellow batchmates Ryan Buenafe and Nico Salva have become regular parts of the rotation, Chua has been in and out of Black’s rotation, hence perhaps the lack of respect accorded to him by opponents. So lightly was Chua regarded that Camus posted him up on UST’s first possession thinking easy bucket or a foul. Chua instead returned the ball back to Camus who had a wry smile on his face.

But when the Blue Eagle center scored Ateneo’s first six straight points, one had to wonder if there was something special in the air.

Although the game degenerated into a series of runs, it was obvious that either team couldn’t really get into a rhythm because of the match’s defensive nature.

As the game moved perilously close to the twilight zone and the score relatively deadlocked, it was obvious that whoever got into a run in the final half of the 4^th Quarter could pull out the win.

If there was anything different from this UST team as opposed to last season when they had league MVP Dylan Ababou and scoring machine Khasim Mirza in tow, this unit spreads the ball around. Five players scored in double digits in their opening day win over the University of the East Red Warriors.

In the final 6:35 of the game, the Blue Eagles clamped down on the Tigers and held them to one field goal – a meaningless lay-up by Jeric Fortuna that Ateneo forward-center Frank Golla let by harmlessly. On the offensive end, it was a mighty 17-7 wind-up for a 68-56 win wherein the final score hardly begun to tell of the titanic struggle waged by the two squads for victory #2.

Chua scored huge 8 points in the final quarter to go with the 5 markers that were added by Emman Monfort.

As the final buzzer sounded that saw Ateneo go to 2-1 (tied for second, third, and fourth with Adamson and La Salle), the Eagles mobbed Chua at the halfcourt line.

Said Black as he summed up the day’s fruitful event: “I’m hoping (that he could turn out to be as good as Rabeh Al-Hussaini) this being his third year, we all saw the improvement of Rabeh in his third year. I’m hoping that the same will happen to Justin.”

Ateneo 68 – Chua 17, Salva 14, Monfort 8, Salamat 7, Golla 7, dela Cruz 6, Escueta 5, Long 2, Austria 2, Tiongson 0, Buenafe 0

UST 56 – Bautista 11, Teng 10, Camus 8, Mariano 7, Fortuna 7, Pe 4, Afuang 4, Marata 2, Aytona 2, Daquiog 1, Wong 0, Tinte 0, Mamaril 0, Lo 0