By Jonas Terrado - Manila Bulletin - September 26, 2008
Ateneo de Manila ended its six-year title drought in grand fashion, sweeping rival De La Salle, 62-51, to bag the UAAP basketball championship yesterday before an overflow crowd at the Araneta Coliseum.
Team captain Chris Tiu ended his collegiate career in style, scoring 16 points as he made up for his two point showing in Game 1.
The celebrated Ateneo guard shot 4-of-7 from the field while hitting a perfect 7-of-7 from the stripe as he finally won his first-andonly crown since he began joining the Loyola-based school five years ago.
What Tiu started with 13 points in the first half, Nonoy Baclao, bruised knee and all, finished with eight points, 10 rebounds and four blocks.
His work underneath the basket earned Baclao the Most Valuable Player award in the Finals.
It marked the third time in four title meetings that the Eagles bested the Archers. They also beat the Archers in 1988 and 2001.
The Eagles also completed a sweep of the Archers in four games this season, also a first in their storied collegiate rivalry.
Ateneo coach Norman Black fought off tears after winning his first collegiate title. He took over the reins from Sandy Arespacochaga in 2005.
"It feels good," said Black. "I’ve been coaching Ateneo for four years now and finally I was able to give them the championship and it’s a good feeling."
La Salle was hurt by the ejection of La Salle’s Rico Maierhofer who was slapped his second technical foul with 1:31 left in the third quarter for waving a "dirty finger."
La Salle coach Franz Pumaren vehemently protested the call.
"If you noticed, I don’t complain too much but this is the worst officiating I have ever seen," Pumaren said.
La Salle was slapped a total of 29 fouls compared to Ateneo’s 13.
The halftime ended at 41-26 in Ateneo’s favor as the Eagles poured seven straight points.
Ateneo shot a blistering 65 percent from the field compared to La Salle’s 35 percent clip in the first 20 minutes of play.
But JV Casio rallied the Archers in the third period, scoring 12 points as the Ateneo lead shrank to just three, 50-47.
However, Casio was assessed with his fourth foul with 38.5 seconds left in the third quarter, prompting Pumaren to pull him out of the court.
From there, the Blue Eagles took over down the stretch as Baclao tipped in a miss shot before Jai Reyes scored an uncontested runner for a 10-point spread with 1:21 left.
Casio, playing his last game in the UAAP, led La Salle with 18 points on 6of-14 shooting from the field while adding five rebounds and two assists as he sat most off the second half after suffering his fourth personal foul with 38.5 left in the third.
With Casio out, the rest of the team failed to take over with PJ Walsham as the nearest player to score a double-digit with eight points.
Maierfhofer made eight points and 11 rebounds before he was thrown out.
Black cited their defense in the second half.
"It really held up for us because our offense in the second half really didn’t click but the defense stayed firm," said Black.
Baclao, who was a prized recruit from West Negros College, averaged 6.5 points, 8.5 rebounds and 5.5 blocks in the two games title series.
"And we’re very fortunate we went to Bacolod and recruited Noy because he was the cornerstone of our defense," said Black.
"Parang di ko maexplain yung nararamdaman ko kasi La Salle pa kalaban ko tapos nung third quarter nung sumakit yung knee ko akala ko hindi na ako makakabalik," said the 21-year old Baclao.
It was a disappointing loss for the Green Archers who were swept in the finals for just the fifth time in a best-of-three series.
DLSU was swept by UST in 1994 and 1996 and by FEU in 1997 and 2005.
A total of 22,955 fans watched the last game of the season. Security was as tight as ever as several media people were forced to cover the games in the press room due to the heavy attendance. Only photographers were only allowed to sit on the baseline floor.
Over at the South Gate, officials, VIP’s and media personnel spent about an hour or two before entering the coliseum premises.
Rabeh Al-Hussaini, adjudged as the league’s Most Valuable Player, scored just seven points, all in the second half, while grabbing five rebounds after committing two quick fouls in the opening period.
The scores:
Ateneo (62) - Tiu 16, Nkemakolam 8, Baclao 8, Al-Hussaini 7, Baldos 6, Buenafe 5, Reyes 5, Salamat 3, Austria 2, Escueta 2
La Salle (51) - Casio 18, Walsham 8, Maierfhofer 7, Revilla 5, Bagatsing 3, Atkins 3, Mangahas 3, Malabes 2, Ferdinand 2, Villanueva 0, Barua 0
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