WHY THE EAGLES WON

By this time, you must have watched, read or had the Ateneo victory described to you in detail. I will not add to the legion of sports recappers and, instead, will focus on analyzing key facets of the game. 

The sheer amount of things to talk about is gargantuan, therefore, I will make this a 3-part blog.

First we take on the winning Ateneo side.

WHY ATENEO WON

1) Rabeh Al-Hussaini - If there were any doubts about this guy's MVP worthiness, it got erased by his masterful Game 1 performance, logging in 31 points and 8 rebounds. Al-Hussaini started out rather tentatively, betraying jittery nerves as he shot just 1-5 in the first quarter, missing the mid range jumpers he would later on hit with amazing regularity. I don't know what coach Norman Black said to him but as soon as Al-Hussaini stepped on to the court in the third quarter, he stamped his class all over the La Salle interior defense. The ferocity he showed right from the start of the 3rd quarter got his teammates fired up, leading to a 12-0 run that La Salle never recovered from. 

2) Ryan Buenafe - He's a rookie playing in his first UAAP championships as part of the most explosive and bitter rivalry in the history of Philippine collegiate basketball. Everyone would understand and forgive him if he succumbed to the pressure of the big game. Instead, Ryan Buenafe scores Ateneo's first 2 points, grabs an offensive rebound and dishes out to Al-Hussaini for an uncontested lay up, has 7 of Ateneo's 11 points with time running out in the first quarter, almost has a double double by the half (10pts, 8 rebs) and plays like a heady veteran in crunch time. A lot of basketball pundits were surprised to see Buenafe starting but I think Buenafe has certainly made his case. And yes, Rookie of the year is a foregone conclusion.

3) Nonoy Baclao - 7 blocks. Including two momentum breaking blocks on La Salle big men Rico Maierhofer and James Managahas. Baclao forced Maierhofer into a traveling violation after he stuffed the ball back into Maierhofer's face and he sent Mangahas crashing to the deck and the ball into Archer territory with a swat that would have done Dennis Rodman proud. Had either Maierhofer or Managhas made their shots, La Salle would have been in striking distance once again.  Any kind of momentum would have propelled the Archers past the Eagles. But instead, Baclao's blocks resulted into 2 La Salle turnovers and an 8 point swing (4 La Salle points gone with the block and 4 points on the ensuing Ateneo possession, courtesy of Al-Hussaini). 

4) Team Maturity -  La Salle forced Ateneo into 15 first half turnovers, their average per game. Ateneo barely even flinched. La Salle took its first lead on a Casio 3 point play. Ateneo immediately took it back. La Salle hacked and fouled at every opportunity. Ateneo canned their free throws calmly. In the end, La Salle's frantic, frenetic energy was not enough to shake Atenean composure...which is why Ateneo ended up on top.

5) Unselfishness and Team Play - There are several reasons why Al-Hussaini ended up with 31 points...and those reasons are named Buenafe, Reyes, Salamat and Tiu. These guys penetrated, dished out, bounced off and did everything humanly possible to get Al-Hussaini in the best position to succeed...and Al-Hussaini's success was their success.

Next up, why La Salle lost...