Blue Eagles extend reign beyond UAAP, cop national cage title

In yet another successful season, Ateneo made sure that it would also earn the title the "best collegiate team in the land" before ringing in the New Year. The Blue Eagles showed championship poise in the clutch to turn back upset-hungry Far Eastern University, 74-70, and win the 2009 Philippine Collegiate Champions League (PCCL) crown Sunday at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City. After wasting a precarious lead, Jai Reyes came through with a big shot and a crucial assist in the dying minutes to fend off another comeback attempt by the Tamaraws to snatch the national championship in three games.

It was the third title of the year for the Loyola-based squad after winning the UAAP championship and the Unigames tournament, earning another "Grandslam" of sorts for coach Norman Black. "I don't know about the Grandslam but yes it was a really good year for Ateneo basketball and I'm really proud of my players," said Black. "We've been going at it from March and been playing ever since but they still showed their desire to win this tournament." "I told them before the game, 'whether you win or not, will depend on whether you will be considered a good team or a great team," added Black. "I really felt like if they were able to win this game, they will be considered a great team." The win enabled Ateneo to tie FEU and University of the East for the most number of crowns since the PCCL was launched in 2002 with two apiece. The Eagles earned their first crown two years ago, beating University of the Visayas in a one-game finale. Reyes had 17 points powered by his 5-of-11 shooting that included four treys to cop the tournament's Most Valuable Player plum in a fitting last game for the team. Trailing by three, Reyes launched a booming triple to tie the score at 70-all with 2:30 left then drove past the FEU defenders before finding a cutting Oping Sumalinog for a layup with a 48.2 ticks to go for a 72-70 lead. Lefty guard Eric Salamat, went on a shooting rampage finishing with a game-high 19 points on an 8-of-11 clip along with four rebounds, four assists and three steals before leaving the game with 3:37 left because of cramps. He didn't even get up on the bench when the team celebrated the win, nor receive his Mythical Five award. Instead, Smart Sports' Patrick Gregorio and PCCL chairman Rey Gamboa went to Salamat to award his prizes. Both Reyes and Salamat were joined in the Mythical Five by FEU's Aldrech Ramos and RR Garcia and San Beda's Bam Gamalinda. Revelation Sumalinog, a revelation in this tournament, came away with 11 points, nine rebounds and three blocks in 27 minutes to become one of the players who stepped up in the absence of star big man Rabeh Al-Hussaini. "He (Sumalinog) has improved an awful lot. Actually he's always been good, it's just that some of the guys who are ahead of him are starting to graduate and he's showing everybody that he can play basketball," Black said. Paul Sanga registered 15 points to lead the Tams while Garcia shrugged off his sluggish showing in Game 2 with 14 points, six rebounds, six assists and three steals. But FEU, which tried to complete the fourth come-from-behind victory of the tournament, found no luck this time around and settled for second place. The Morayta-based cagers were trailing by 16 points early in the third period but made a galloping stand from there, eventually cutting the lead to just two points, 61-59, after Chris Exciminiano ended the quarter with a putback. The Tamaraws later grabbed their first lead since the first period as JR Cawaling hit a jumper with a foul to boot from Sumalinog for a 68-67 lead with 3:55 to go. Cawaling muffed his bonus try but later drained another medium-range jumper for a 70-67 lead with 2:49 to go before Reyes answered back seconds later. The 2007 UAAP Rookie of the Year finished with 10 points but shot 4-of-13 from the floor. Ramos, on the other hand, registered 10 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks for the squad of a grieving coach Glenn Capacio, who showed up with a heavy heart due to the passing of his father, Conrado, during the wee hours of the morning. - GMANews.TV