THIS WEEKEND, while the Blue Eagle roster heads to Las Vegas, one of their own will be left behind. Reserve power forward Vince Burke has officially withdrawn from the team, announcing that he will return to the United States with his family in the fall.

The Blue Eagles, however, would not let him go without a proper send off. Named into the starting line-up for the first time in his Blue Eagle career, Burke starred in Ateneo’s wire-to-wire 83-57 victory over the College of St. Benilde on May 14 in the Far Eastern University Gym.

Early on, Ateneo blitzed to double-digit 20-8 lead into the second quarter. The Blue Eagles, however, who have had a tendency to give away their early lead finally capitalized on their advantage, using their superior size to secure rebounds and spark the fast break. As their lead ballooned to 29 points, the Eagles never looked back. By the third quarter, the game was out of reach for the Blazers.

Ateneo saw contributions from the depths of its rotation as Coach Sandy Arespaochaga went to his bench early, giving his starting rotation much needed rest. The team has played five games in the last week.

Highlighted by Frank Golla’s team high 15 points, the men in blue dominated the offensive glass throughout the game. The story of the game, however, was Ateneo’s number 15, Vince Burke. As his teammates happily fed him the ball, Burke responded by grabbing four rebounds and scoring nine points in 17 minutes, including a three-pointer that brought the bench to their feet late in the third.

The game was the last in the elimination round in the Father Martin cup, with the Blue Eagles sporting a 5-1 record—one game behind group leaders FEU, who handed Ateneo their sole loss. It was also the Katipunan-side’s last game for the next two weeks as they fly to Las Vegas for their annual pre-season training at the Joe Abunassar Impact Basketball Camp.

Scores by quarter: 20-6, 42-23, 64-37, 83-57