Ateneo shoots for UAAP crown

On the cusp of punctuating their magical run with a crown, the Ateneo Blue Eagles insist their mission is far from finished, aware of the Herculean task of toppling the reigning champions.

With their backs against the wall, the La Salle Green Archers remain defiant, confident they can send the UAAP Season 80 best-of-three championship series to a deciding game.

It all sets up for another heated and physical battle between collegiate basketball’s fiercest rivals in Game 2 on Wednesday as the series shifts to the Smart Araneta Coliseum, where the Archers have already beaten the Eagles this season.

“It’s the second battle of a long war,” said Ateneo coach Tab Baldwin. “We anticipate a physical game. You get that all the time with La Salle. La Salle won’t be any different in Game 2.”

Baldwin has already accused the Archers of “pushing the rules to the limit” after the series opener that saw the Eagles prevail, 76-70.

“It would be silly to think otherwise because they’re good at it,” said Baldwin, referring to the Archers’ physical play. “They push the rules to the limit, the referees to the limit.”

Ateneo guard Matt Nieto actually sustained a nasty cut over his left eye after getting hit by an inadvertent Ben Mbala elbow in the second period. But the play proved telling as it pumped up the Eagles, particularly Mike Nieto, who sparked the second half surge that propelled Ateneo.

The Archers were held scoreless in the last two and a half minutes of Game 1, with reigning Most Valuable Player Ben Mbala typifying their struggles with a career-low eight points on just seven shots.

“We have to stick to our game plan,” said Mbala. “If coach has a perfect and splendid game plan for us, we just have to stick to the game plan and play together as a team. And we got outrebounded in Game 1 and that is something that shouldn’t happen, we are one of the best rebounding teams in the league, and we gotta be able to do what we do best and that is rebounding, and run and gun.

The Archers aren’t about to surrender their crown just yet.

“We’re the defending champions,” said La Salle skipper Kib Montalbo. “I couldn’t consider our team as the underdog. It’s just two great teams battling it out. It’s one hell of a series.”

The Archers, however, are caught in unfamiliar territory for the first time in the two-year tenure of coach Aldin Ayo, who steered the team to the title last year at the expense of Ateneo.

And as much as they tried to take the loss in Game 1 in stride, the fact remains that they’ll be no room for error for the Archers on Wednesday, and, if necessary, in Game 3 on Sunday.

“Our performance was lacking in Game 1. We need to make better decisions (in Game 2),” said La Salle guard Aljun Melecio, who had 24 points in Game 1.

The Eagles, though, are already bracing for the mighty comeback from the Archers.

“They’re the favorites, they’re the defending champs, and for sure they’re going to come out next game motivated, with adjustments,” said Ateneo assistant coach Sandy Arespacochaga.