Ateneo wins its 3rd Fr. Martin's Cup title

Summer Harvest

The Ateneo Blue Eagles end their long summer with a Fr. Martin Cup title

game account and pic by rick olivares

Eleven games in 25 days. That was followed by training for six hours a day for the next 20 days in the United States. When the Ateneo Blue Eagles returned, in less than a week's time and while battling jetlag, they played another three matches. Their fourth game was for the Fr. Martin Cup and was against old NCAA foe Mapua.

When they took to the court inside the sweltering hot St. Placid Gym at San Beda, instead of going to its harassing defense, the Ateneans waited back to conserve their energy.

And it was just as well because after tipoff, Ateneo scored six consecutive points with barely a minute gone by. Third year Mapua Coach Chito Victolero, who once donned the colors of the Cardinals, called time to settle down his boys and he turned to third-year playmaker Allan Mangahas to get his team untracked.

Over the course of the summer, the Cardinals started out slowly prompting basketball observers to pencil them as potential flameouts in the NCAA. While they were eliminated early on in the Fil Oil Invitational, they did quite well for themselves in the Fr. Martin Tournament where they beat some heavily favored teams en route to the championship game against Ateneo.

It's easy to dismiss the Cardinals as some of their players struggled last year. With a healthy line-up and the return of Jonathan Banal after an ACL injury kept him out last season, Mapua has some balance. Not to mention firepower.

They have two of the best jumpshooting big men in college hoops with center Jason Pascual and Macky Acosta and both can nail it from around the three-point arc. Guards Rodel Ranises, TG Guillermo, Banal, and Mangahas have range as well.

And it was on display today.

The Cardinals overhauled an early 10-2 Ateneo lead after Chris deChavez hit a baseline fade. Pascual hit a jumper to give what would be Mapua's only taste of the lead at 17-15 but any bench celebration was immediately tempered when Ateneo center Jason Escueta scored on an and-one from an Acosta foul for the blue and white to take the lead at 18-17.

And in a blazing run reminiscent of Ateneo's Season 72 second unit that not only cleaned up the mess of the starters but also blew apart opponents, the lineup of Esceuta, Tonino Gonzaga, Emman Monfort (he didn't start today), Art de la Cruz, and Frank Golla (and Bacon Austria after that) secured a 13-point lead 37-24 with a few minutes left in the first half.

But Guillermo strung up six straight points to bring the lead down to seven before halftime.

The 10-minute break didn't damper Mapua's momentum as a 6-1 blitz to start the 3rd forced Ateneo to call for time 38-36.

After the timeout, Nico Salva and Kirk Long gave Ateneo a little more breathing room at 42-36 but this was where the game became interesting. Mapua's outside shooting was on target while Ateneo preferred to score from the inside. After the referee whistled Cardinal forward Erwin Cornejo for kneeing Eric Salamat who tried to post him up, Mapua coach Victolero charged to the officials table and berated the referee who slapped a T on him.

Three free throws gave Ateneo a 45-36 lead but as Mapua regained possession, the technical foul lit a fire on the NCAA team.

A Ranises trey negated those three free throws and the Cardinals rallied once more. Their cheers reached a crescendo when Mangahas' deft behind the head flick to a cutting Guillermo for a deuce shrunk the lead to 52-50. Ateneo time out at the 7:57 mark of the 4th.

The timeout was crucial as it gave Ateneo a chance to regain their wits inside the really hot gym. When they returned, it was their turn to go on a 12-2 run capped by an unlikely trey from Frank Golla at the top of the arc. 64-52 Ateneo at the 4:08 mark. Said Frank of the biggest trey of his career, "Parang nagisip pa ung bola kung gusto niyang mashoot or hindi."

The game was every bit another classic as it was marked by a run by one squad only to be countered by another. And for sure, there was one last spurt coming from the Cardinals.

In the match's final two minutes, two miscues by Mapua killed their chances to tie the match or send it into overtime. Cornejo failed to track a long defensive rebound that was picked up by Eric Salamat. It was crucial for Escueta scored on the next play. And on Mapua's next possession, Ronald Pascual stepped out of bounds while getting ready to drive around his defender.

They would score the game's last six points but time had run out on them. The buzzer sounded 68-64 and Ateneo had it's third Fr. Martin title under Norman Black.

One long summer. One championship. One quarterfinals berth. Next week, the team has seven days off.

Ateneo 68 - Escueta 14, Long 11, Salamat 7, Golla 7, Gonzaga 6, Tiongson 5, Austria 5, Monfort 4, Salva 4, Erram 2 deChaves 2, de la Cruz 1

Mapua 64 - Pascual 17, Guillermo 12, Ranises 9, Cornejo 6, Mangahas 9, Acosta 5, Sarangay 3, Stevens 3, Banal 0

Good luck to Chito Victolero and the Mapua Cardinals in the NCAA Season 86!

The Ateneo Blue Eagles under Norman Black:

2 UAAP titles, 2 PCCL titles, 2 Uni-Games titles, 3 Fr. Martin titles, 1 Nike Summer League title