ANOTHER TROPHY has been bagged for the nest as the Ateneo Blue Eagles took down the College of Saint Benilde (CSB) Blazers after an intense dogfight down the stretch at the 2023 Bola.TV AsiaBasket Las Piñas Championship finals, 60-57. The match was held yesterday at the Villar Coliseum in the City of Las Piñas.
Rookie guard Ian Espinosa earned his first player-of-the-game recognition with 15 points and two steals to keep Ateneo’s record unscathed throughout the tournament. Striving alongside Espinosa was 2023 AsiaBasket Tournament MVP Kai Ballungay who recorded a 12-12 points-rebound statline in the clincher. Gozum steered the way for the CSB Blazers with 12 points and four boards, while 5’10” guard Robi Nayve recorded 11 points and nabbed five rebounds, in a losing effort.
A strength-versus-speed showdown marked the start of the match between the two teams as the Blue Eagles took advantage of their size and athleticism for easy baskets inside the paint. Meanwhile, the scrappy Blazers utilized their mobility for transition points and perimeter shots. Espinosa tallied seven first-quarter points to give Ateneo an early advantage by the end of the first buzzer, 21-15.
Heading into the second canto, the Blue and White’s offense became stagnant, having to rely on Espinosa and Ballungay’s efforts to protect their small lead. The Green and White took advantage of this development, outpacing Ateneo on both ends of the floor to cut the lead to four by the end of the first half, 29-33.
Ateneo opened the second half rejuvenated with the Katipunan-based squad’s defense anchored by their big men Joseph Obasa and Geo Chiu as both tallied two rejections each in the third quarter alone.
On the other end, the Taft-based squad’s rebirth came after Miguel Corteza was taken out of the game after a bruised knee in the same period, highlighted by CSB guard Prince Carlos’ crafty finish off a marvelous crossover. The third quarter had Ateneo’s big advantage down to just five heading into the final frame, 50-45.
With the championship on the line, both teams amped up their physical intensity as numerous rough plays were reviewed to ensure fair calls between the two heated competitors. The Blue Eagles responded to the duel’s demands with a young lineup headlined by rookies Espinosa, Obasa, and Andrew Bongo with two minutes left in the game.
With 46 seconds left, CSB was awarded a basket after Ballungay’s denial against Blazers forward Will Gozum’s hook shot was ruled goaltending. Down by three and preceded by a pair of failed charity line freebies from Obasa, Prince Carlos missed a Hail Mary three-pointer that could have forced overtime for the Blazers. With their last defensive stop off Carlos’ attempt, Ateneo escaped CSB’s late rally after a tough bout, 60-57, to be officially crowned as the victors of the 2023 AsiaBasket championship.
Espinosa admittedly did not expect to have a stellar performance coming into the game. Instead, the first-year guard credited the shooting and execution drills the team went through a day before the momentous event.
“Siguro ‘di ako nag-e-expect. We did our best lang kasi kahapon, we really practiced on our shooting and execution so lumabas lang ‘yung ginawa namin kahapon dito na i-apply namin sa game,” the Ilonggo native shared.
(I did not really expect [a lot]. We simply did our best since we really practiced our shooting and execution yesterday. Hence, we were able to apply what we learned yesterday in the game.)
The Ateneo Blue Eagles now look ahead to the World University Basketball Series as they begin their title defense against the University of Sydney on August 11, 6:30 PM in Tokyo, Japan.
Box Scores:
Ateneo (60): Espinosa – 15, Ballungay – 12, Obasa – 8, Bongo – 7, Chiu – 7, Amos – 5, Quitevis – 4, Tuano – 2
CSB (57): Gozum – 12, Nayve – 11, Carlos – 8, Corteza – 6, Sangco – 6, Oczon – 5, Arciaga – 4, Mara – 3, Turco – 2
Quarter Score: Ateneo-CSB: 21-15, 33-29, 50-45, 60-57.
