Ateneo Blue Eagles UAAP Finals Game 2: Three for three. A History Lesson

Three for three: A History Lesson

Ateneo 65 vs. FEU 62

story by rick olivares

pics by brosi gonzales and aaron vicencio

There were 32 seconds left in the game with Ateneo on top by a slim 61-59 lead over FEU in Game Two of the UAAP FInals when Ryan Buenafe got hold of the basketball after a hand off from Nico Salva. In the past two years, the third year forward has been suppressing different emotions inside of him. After a promising freshman year, he was relegated to the bench. And although he was every bit as integral to the success of the Ateneo Blue Eagles, he chafed at his role. “I’m greedy,” he said to a few close friends. “But it’s never about the statistics. It was about playing time and being on the court with the ball in my hands in the clutch.” He wanted the responsibility of taking the big shot. If the ball fell in then it was all good. If he missed then he wouldn’t mind taking the flack. It comes with the territory.

He immediately noticed that it was FEU Tamaraws rookie Carl Cruz in front of him. Cruz checked in for JR Cawaling who Buenafe burned badly on many a post up earlier in the game. Except the move backfired because Buenafe was out in the perimeter. The Blue Eagle quickly waved off his teammates away for an isolation play. Thinking he was going to drive to the basket, Tamaraws center Al Ramos positioned himself behind Cruz to protect against the drive.

Only Buenafe wasn’t taking it to the rack.

With the shot clock winding down to five seconds, Buenafe instead threw up a trey. “I was really going to take that three-point shot. When it left my hands, it felt good. I knew I was going to make it,” said the third year forward who was named Finals MVP after.

“Ryan has been shooting seven percent from three-point land,” said victorious Ateneo head coach Norman Black with a raised eyebrow. “I didn’t stop him, but I didn’t encourage it either. He had a lot of confidence that he can take that shot.”

The shot -- and what a big time shot it was -- went in. It was three for three. And for the first modern three-peat for Ateneo.

Before Game One, when informed about most predictions going FEU’s way, Black simply said, “I guess they don’t think much of us, do they? I guess we’ll have to show them.” And show them they did with a 72-49 blowout.

After the loss, many still in media took FEU to task for a poor game. They insisted that FEU was the better team. “I guess we’ll have to do it all over again,” replied an amused team manager Paolo Trillo while at the 25^th Anniversary celebration of the Alaska Aces at the Dusit Thani Hotel the Tuesday before Game Two. “Let them keep talking. It just drives us all the more.”

The road to a three-peat is long and perilous but it was Ateneo that first accomplished it back when the country was young. They weren’t even known as the Blue Eagles then but "the Blue and Whites." Since then, other teams accomplished their own trifectas and raised the standard of excellence.

The UST Growling Tigers accomplished the hat trick on four separate occasions. The UE Red Warriors won a record seven consecutive titles under former Blue Eagle Baby Dalupan. The San Sebastian Stags and the De La Salle Green Archers later pulled the trick as well. In the meantime, the NCAA and the UAAP has been littered with many a carcass of Blue Eagle teams that attempted the feat.

In 1953 and ‘54, the Blue Eagles of head coach Bing Ouano stopped San Beda’s three-peat attempt and posted two straight title wins over their own. But the Red Lions stopped Ateneo dead in their tracks in the 1955 title game.

In 1957 and ’58, Ateneo returned to the NCAA Finals and scored another twin killing. But the graduation of many of its stars – Ed Ocampo, Jimmy Pestaño, and Bobby Littaua among others – left a very young team to man the fort the following year and they didn’t even figure for the championship (although the core of that ’59 team returned to the Finals in 1961 to win another title).

In 1975 and ’76, one of the strongest Ateneo teams ever fielded, romped through the league with its bevy of national players led by Steve Watson, Fritz Gaston, and Joy Carpio. They returned to the Finals the following year against San Beda but when Pons Valdez’ last shot was waived off (he made what appeared to be the game winning basket but it was called off when he was assessed an offensive foul), the title transferred addresses to Mendiola.

In 1989, Ateneo was the hands down favorite to cop its third straight title following its first UAAP crowns in 1987 and ’88, but health concerns prevented center Danny Francisco from suiting up while other key players like Alex Araneta and Jay Gayoso were unable to suit up. With their finals lives on the line against the FEU Tamaraws, the Blue Eagles came up short as gunner Joseph Canlas only found the range from three-point distance a little too late.

Twenty-one years later, Ateneo was in a rare position to complete the three-peat.

The Tamaraws came to play in Game Two as they tightened up their defense and led early in the game behind Paul Sanga’s three triples that gave them a 22-13 first quarter lead.

Following a jumper by Rookie of the Year Terrence Romeo that gave FEU at 24-13 lead, the largest double digit lead of the match, it was time Ateneo to make a stand or the series would go to a deciding third game. Ateneo responded and held the Tams scoreless for five minutes and 13 seconds while unloading 14 points of their own. Coincidentally in Game 1, Ateneo also dropped a crippling 14-0 salvo on FEU that helped them erect a huge lead in the first quarter alone.

Buenafe was magnificent in the second quarter as he hit a fallaway jumper over FEU’s Pipo Noundou and ditched former Smart Gilas teammate JR Cawaling with a nasty fake for a score off the window. He was in his element -- playing big in big games.

Although the Tamaraws lead 31-30 at the half, one could sense that it was just a matter of time as the Blue Eagles seized control of the game. Had Ateneo shot better from the free throw line (they were 10-16 in the first half), the game would have had a different complexion. As it was, the game was close.

The Tamaraws returned to the court after the break without head coach Glenn Capacio who was suffering from a bout of high blood following an argument with the referees over a call. If the Tamaraws were bothered by their coach’s absence they did not show it as they started the third quarter as they did in the first – by scoring first and inside with Reil Cervantes, Paul Sanga, and RR Garcia taking it strong.

Ateneo went to its pair of wondrous forwards in Buenafe and Salva whose collective six points weathered the early outburst of the Tams. In the midst of the spurt, Buenafe once more made mincemeat of another former Smart Gilas teammate in Aldrech Ramos when he damn near faked him out of his high tops for a deuce off the glass.

At the 4:23 mark of the third quarter, Buenafe sensing he would not get the offensive board with Reil Cervantes having better position instead tapped a rebound to Emman Monfort who was lurking along the baseline. The diminutive point guard gathered the ball and in one motion lofted a floater above the flailing Cervantes. The ball settled into the net for a 43-42 lead the Blue Eagles would not relinquish.

While Ateneo was in the lead, their free throw shooting woes still left a glimmer of hope for the flustered Tamaraws who were not only in foul trouble but couldn’t find points from their newly-minted MVP in Garcia (who Monfort gallantly held to a measly six points) and Romeo (two points).

With 1:44 left in the game and Ateneo on top 61-56, an eerie scenario that recalled ghosts of championships past was brewing. Salva fouled Ramos and that put the big man who made the Mythical Squad for the second straight year on the stripe. Facing the north basket of the Araneta Coliseum, Ramos found himself staring at an entire sea of blue from the ringside section all the way to the bleachers.

In 1987, UE’s Vernie Villarias found himself in the same situation. He had buried many crucial free throws in the clutch in his career with the Warriors but he had never had to contend with hundreds of fans waving towels, umbrellas, placards, and their hands at him. He missed his free throws and Ateneo went on to win.

Cut to today, Ramos split his freebies.

Twenty-six seconds later, another Salva foul sent Cervantes to the fifteen-foot line. With the blue wave distracting him, the Tamaraws veteran center also split his free throws.

Once more Ateneo was unable to score on their possession and a Frank Golla foul on a Sanga three-point attempt sent him to the stripe for three free throws. He made only his last one. The Sixth Man had done their part. Now it was up to the blue and whites to seal the deal.

Twenty-one seconds later, Buenafe channeled JC Intal in 2006 when he found himself one-on-one with Tamaraws guard Jeff Chan outside the arc. Intal juked Chan with a crossover and laid the ball in over a phalanx of defenders for the heart stopping win that eliminated FEU from Final Four contention.

This time around, it was Buenafe against Cruz with the game on the line. Buenafe, the 7% three-point shooter, then showed Sanga, the 30.2% three-point shooter, how it is done.

It was all net and Ateneo was two-and-done.

Bedlam. The three-peat, the long-awaited-who-would-have-thought-it-would-happen-in-our-lifetime-three-peat, had been secured.

Animo Ateneo.

Ateneo 65 – Buenafe 23, Monfort 10, Salva 9, Long 7, Chua 7, Salamat 3, Golla 3, Escueta 2, Austria 1, Erram 0, Gonzaga 0, deChavez 0

FEU 62 – Cervantes 15, Sanga 13, Ramos 9, Cawaling 8, Noundou 6, Garcia 6, Romeo 2, Exciminiano 2, Bringas 1, Cruz 0, Guerrero 0

Notes:

- Ateneo is the first team to accomplish a three-peat in both the NCAA and the UAAP.

- All three titles during the three-peat were accomplished on a Thursday.

- This was Ateneo’s sixth win in nine finals appearances in the UAAP.

- This was the first year since 1997 where no Blue Eagles won a Mythical Five selection.

- This was Ateneo’s first title win outside UE and DLSU in the UAAP Finals.

This is for Bing Ouano who led Ateneo to its first three-peat as a player and lost the chance of bagging one as a coach in 1955.

This is for Dodo Martelino, Dodie Agcaoili, Ed Carvajal, Cris Arroyo, and Boogie Pamintuan among many others on the 1959 squad who fought that One Big Fight but failed to get into the championship round.

This is for coach Bong Go who endured so much criticism in 1977 after replacing Baby Dalupan on the Ateneo bench and (for my former ABL teammate in Team Rabat) Pons Valdez who to this day cannot forget that basket of his that was waived off in the dying seconds of that infamous closed door match at the Araneta Coliseum that prevented Ateneo from leaving the NCAA in style.

This is for Jun Reyes, Eric Reyes, Olsen Racela, Gene Afable, and Joseph Canlas who kept us in the fight in 1989 but fell short. I still remember wiping my the tears from my eyes up in the bleachers of the Rizal Memorial Coliseum as time ran out on our rally against FEU when we were eliminated from championship contention.

This is for Norman Black who came, conquered, and still has us all believing.

And for Ryan Buenafe for believing and that long two-hour conversation before the start of the new school year. So it worked, right?

One Big Fight!!!

Thanks!!!

The 2010 Ateneo Blue Eagles

Eric Salamat * Kirk Long * Ryan Buenafe * Nico Salva * Justin Chua * Emman Monfort * Frank Golla * Jason Escueta * JP Erram * Raymond Austria * Juami Tiongson * Tonino Gonzaga * Jeric Estrada * Carlo Balmaceda * Chris deChavez * Arthur dela Cruz Jr. *

Norman Black * Sandy Arespacochaga * Gene Afable * Jamike Jarin * Gabby Severino * Jon Jacinto * George Canlas * Chester Tiongson * Kale Alvarez * Arcee Cua *

Debbie Tan * Paolo Trillo * Fr. Nemy Que S.J.