Heart, soul propel Eagles’ flight to top

Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

It was a championship run with so many turning points, but for the Ateneo Blue Eagles, their journey back to the top of the UAAP started as soon as they lost the title to fierce rival La Salle a year ago.

There was no promise to return to the finals, only a commitment to individual improvement in an effort to topple the Green Archers and bring the crown back to the Loyola campus, which hasn’t celebrated a UAAP basketball title since 2012—the tailend of the Eagles rare “five-peat.”

“We didn’t know we were coming back to this stage again,” said Ateneo assistant coach Sandy Arespacochaga.

Against a talented La Salle squad, the Eagles proved more than equal to the challenge, this time—a far cry from last season when the championship series looked like a mismatch.

“They just responded every step of the way and when we ran into real adversity, none bigger than that tremendous La Salle basketball team, they found a way,” Baldwin said. “And a lot of it is their heart, soul and courage.”

Thirdy Ravena emerged as the Eagles’ best offensive creator as the season wore on en route to a Finals MVP honor, while Matt Nieto developed into a calm and assured figure at the backcourt.

Criticized for his inability to make shots even from point blank range, Chiz Ikeh impacted games with his height and heft and polished his offensive game.

But no one highlighted Ateneo’s ascent than center Isaac Go, who went from missing a potential game-winning point-blank shot against La Salle in a second round loss to making one clutch shot after another in the Final Four and in the Finals.

Getting a pass from Ravena with the shot clock about to expire and Ateneo leading by just two points, Go knocked in the biggest shot of the season with a triple with 24.7 seconds, lifting the Eagles to a thrilling 88-86 win in Game 3 before 22,012 fans at Smart Araneta Coliseum Sunday night.

Lot of growth

“We saw a lot of growth from our players from last season and even this year, the growth on a per game basis,” said Arespacochaga.

“Thirdy (Ravena), for example, took a forced shot in the first round against La Salle, but he made the right plays in the finals. Isaac Go made important baskets. We’re happy not just for him, but all our players who executed that play that enabled him to make those shots.”

Ateneo skipper Vince Tolentino, who also played a key role in the Game 3 win, paid tribute to Baldwin and his coaching staff as they laid the foundation of the win after the Eagles bungled a 21-point lead in the previous game.

“The motto of this team is always to believe, and even though we didn’t finish the job in Game 2 and La Salle gave us a really good fight, we never stopped believing.” said Tolentino, who will graduate from the squad along with Ikeh and Kris Porter.

Baldwin believes the team still has plenty of room to grow.

“These boys worked a long time to get here,” he said. “I told them, ‘We didn’t reach a peak, we reached a plateau, because there has to be room for the whole team.’ We didn’t do it as individuals, we did it as a team. So nobody stands at the peak alone.”