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Ateneo completes storybook ending, takes PCCL plum

by Anton Roxas
Monday, 14 December 2009 4,744 Views / 171 Comments

JOSE Antonio Reyes sat down on the wooden flooring right under one of the baskets inside the historic Araneta Coliseum. His Ateneo de Manila Blue Eaglets had just won back-to-back titles in the UAAP juniors division. Who would have thought that about five years later that this undersized guard would be celebrating another championship in his last game in an Ateneo uniform?

The Ateneo de Manila Blue Eagles showed the entire nation last Sunday, December 13, 2009, that they are undoubtedly the best collegiate basketball team in the archipelago. They defeated the Far Eastern University Tamaraws, 74-70 at the Ynares Sports Center in Pasig City to capture their second Philippine Collegiate Champions League title.

Before the game even began, news broke out that the father of FEU Glenn Capacio had passed away earlier that day. However, despite this unfortunate occurrence, Capacio was still present to coach his team.

A predominantly Ateneo crowd was in attendance to support their team. The university had just celebrated its 150th year last December 10. The parking lot of the Ynares Sports Center was full and vehicles were no longer allowed to enter the gate by the time the second quarter began and right before halftime, Eric Salamat knocked down a three-pointer with less than 5 seconds left to the delight of the Ateneo crowd. That basket put the Blue Eagles up, 45-35. Salamat, who has been questioned in the past for not playing well in UAAP championship games, finally showed up and finished with a game-high 19 points. He also had 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals.

In the third quarter, RR Garcia led an FEU Tamaraw charge by scoring nine points. They also outrebounded Ateneo in the quarter, 16-8. The Tamaraws utilized a crucial 7-0 run to close out the quarter and cut the lead to just two points going into the final ten minutes of play.

Chants of “Let’s Go Tamaraws!” were drowned out by “Go Ateneo! One Big Fight!” as the players took the floor after getting instructions from their respective coaches. After Reil Cervantes failed to tie the ballgame with two close range attempts, Ateneo spark plug Oping Sumalinog scored to put the Blue Eagles up, 63-59. Paul Sanga then hit a tough turnaround jumper to once again trim the lead back to two. With 8:58 remaining, Jens Knuttel was charged with an unsportsmalike foul by hitting Reyes in the chin while chasing him down the court. Reyes made one out of two free-throws to put the Ateneo at 64-61. About a minute later, Salamat hit another three to put Ateneo up by six, 67-61.

Momentum seemed to be on the side of Ateneo but FEU would not go down just yet. The Tamaraws went on an awe-inspiring 7-0 run to lower the volume of the loud Ateneo crowd. A big part of that run was a big one-dribble pull-up jumpshot by JR Cawaling to give FEU the lead, 68-67 with 3:55 to go. And then, at the 2:49 mark, Cawaling hit another jumper to extend the lead to three, 70-67. At one point during this sequence of events, Salamat crumbled to floor suffering from cramps in his right calf muscle.

The FEU Tamaraws were in control… until ‘Jai-namite’ exploded.

Playing like it was the last game of his life, Reyes showed everybody that what he lacked in height, he more than made up for with his supreme confidence and his countless experiences and lessons learned on the basketball court.

Down by three with 2:30 to go, Jai connected on a three-pointer to tie the game for the first time at 70. He would miss a lay-up to take the lead a couple of possessions later, but Ateneo got the offensive rebound and with less than a minute to play, Jai once again drove down the right side of the basket and made a crucial play by dishing the ball to a cutting Oping Sumalinog to give Ateneo the lead, 72-70 with 45.2 seconds to go.

FEU called a timeout and gave the ball to Garcia, who received it near the midcourt line. But, as he dribbled down the court, Reyes reached in for the ball and stole it but lost his balance moving out of bounds. He threw the ball to the wrong man in Cervantes who dribbled towards the basket and missed on a wild attempt. That was FEU’s last chance at tying the game again. Eventually, Ryan Buenafe was fouled with 6.4 seconds to go and buried both charities to finalize the tally at 74-70.

The 2009 Philippine Collegiate Champions League awarding ceremony was held after the championship game. Buddy Cortez was awarded Best Referee while Ateneo head coach Norman Black was given the Best Coach award. The Mythical Five selection included San Beda’s Bam Gamalinda, FEU’s Garcia and Aldrech Ramos, and Ateneo’s Reyes and Salamat.

In a fitting end to his collegiate basketball career and final game playing for the Ateneo, Reyes took home the honor of being the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.

It has been a perfect basketball season for the Ateneo de Manila Blue Eagles. They captured back-to-back championships in the UAAP and emerged victorious in the Unigames held in Iloilo. And now, they have earned the right to be called the best collegiate basketball team in the Philippines.

The scores:

Ateneo 74 – Salamat 19, Reyes 17, Sumalinog 11, Buenafe 8, Golla 4, Chua 4, Baclao 4, Salva 4, Monfort 3, Austria 0, Long 0.

FEU 70 – Sanga 15, Garcia 14, Ramos 10, Cawaling 10, Exciminiano 8, Manalo 5, Cervantes 4, Noundou 4, Knuttel 0.

Quarter scoring: 20-16, 45-35, 61-59, 74-70.


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Author: Anton Roxas

Anton fell in love with the game of Basketball at the exact same moment he knew Michael Jordan. After playing high school ball for two UAAP seasons with the De La Salle-Zobel Junior Archers, he moved on to De La Salle University-Manila for college where he completed a degree in Applied Corporate Management. He almost ventured into a career in the corporate world but his love for the game prevailed. Anton somehow always knew, that if he didn't become "Like Mike," he would become what he is today - A Sportscaster. Covering Basketball, Volleyball and Boxing for ABS-CBN Sports is a dream come true for him. So is writing for this website.

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