Braving critics and a talented foe, Ateneo highlights Season 73 hoops

MANILA—For Ateneo, which dealt with doubters at the start and a storied franchise that was dripping with talent in the end, there could have been no better way to end the  UAAP Season 73 men’s basketball tournament.   Their blue-painted half of the Araneta Coliseum crowd was exploding in a medley of cheers and alma mater hymns. Confetti was raining down from almost everywhere. Players were alternately kneeling, jumping, whooping it up, crying and hugging. Most of all, when they huddled at the middle of the court for photo-ops, there in their midst was the gleaming champion’s trophy, the third Ateneo had captured in the last three years.   “This championship is the most gratifying,” said Ateneo coach Norman Black.   It had to be.   When the Blue Eagles opened their campaign, critics pointed to the decimation of their roster by graduation as the reason why the so-called “three-peat” was merely a battle cry and nothing more. Gone were Rabeh Al-Hussaini and Nonoy Baclao, the twin towers that anchored Ateneo’s performance on both ends of the court.   On the other hand, FEU was teeming with stars. Although the Tamaraws lost Mark Barroca to graduation, RR Garcia rose to fill in the spot of court general more than ably, even winning the MVP trophy at the end of the season.   Garcia’s supporting cast was as potent: Rookie of the Year Terrence Romeo and national team players Aldrech Ramos and JR Cawaling beefed up a lineup that included reliable scorers Reil Cervantes and Paul Sanga—forming the deepest and the most talented team in the league.   It was just fitting that FEU would be the final roadblock in Ateneo’s path to glory.   FEU and Ateneo ended the elimination rounds 1-2 as expected, needing just one game each to survive the challenge of Final Four obstacles La Salle and Adamson.   Like rival Ateneo, host La Salle came into the season under a cloud of doubt. The Archers paraded a rookie-laden squad, and preseason predictions pegged them finishing out of the Final Four. But the Green Archers, led by skipper Simon Atkins, shooter Samuel Marata and the energetic Joshua Webb refused to be cowed, opening the season with a surprise rout of favored UP and winding up with an 8-6 card.   That was good enough for the No. 4 seed in the semifinals, where they faced the Tamaraws.   Adamson, with heady guard Lester Alvarez running the show and veterans like Alex Nuyles eager to make a title run, was the team that kept the UAAP from being a two-team race. The Falcons stayed neck-and-neck with Ateneo and FEU in the elimination phase and in one stretch was even in contention for the top two slots.   But the Falcons wound up with just a 9-5 slate, falling to third place and missing out on the twice-to-beat edge. Adamson set a Final Four date with Ateneo in a battle between birds of prey, where the Falcons were hoping to end years of futility against the Eagles.   “I think one of the motivations for us is we haven’t won against Ateneo for more than 10 years,” said Adamson coach Leo Austria, whose wards last beat the Eagles in 1997.   Adamson will have to try another year.   The Eagles carved out a 68-55 victory to eliminate the Falcons and arrange a showdown with the Tamaraws, who leaned on a key triple from Paul Sanga and five big overtime points from rookie Terrence Romeo to boot out the Green Archers, 69-59, in the own semifinal duel.   “I’m still proud of my boys,” said La Salle coach Franz Pumaren. “No one expected us to make the Final Four.”   At least, Adamson and La Salle bowed out fighting.   For National U, University of the East, University of Santo Tomas and University of the Philippines, it was a matter of finding positives to build on for the next season.   The Bulldogs finished with a respectable 7-7 card and prized recruit Emmanuel Mbe finished in the Mythical Five, even giving Garcia a serious fight for the MVP trophy.   The Warriors struggled with the expectations attached to perennial contenders, leaning too much on Paul Lee to patch the holes in a roster razed by graduation also. The Tigers, on the other hand, tried to surprise the field by unveiling hot three-point shooting that caught several squads flat-footed. But when the novelty wore off, so did UST’s hopes.   The Maroons grabbed headlines the wrong way. A coaching controversy early in the season set the tone for the favored squad, which was penciled as a Final Four contender because of a veteran, Woody Co-led roster bolstered by rookie sensation Mike Silungan.   Instead, UP’s storyline centered on wether it could avoid yet another 0-14 season. The Maroons flunked that challenge. But Silungan is using the debacle as an inspiration for next year.   “This (0-14) is not going to happen again,” he vowed. UP managed to salvage some measure of pride by ruling the prestigious UAAP cheerdance competition, followed by FEU and UST.   Eventually, the limelight fell on Ateneo.   The Finals was figured to be as nip-and-tuck as their season encounters—both won by the Tamaraws—but the Eagles, having the championship experience, coasted through Game 1 with a 72-49 embarrassment of FEU.   The Tamaraws, eager to forge a free-for-all rubber match, came out fighting in the second game but would still fall short as the Eagles stood their ground en route to a thrilling 65-62 win, thanks to a dagger of a triple by the admittedly out-of-shape Ryan Buenafe.   “Definitely, this was the most difficult championship we’ve won in the last three years,” said Black.   But with the adversity the Eagles had to scale, it also turned out to be the sweetest.