Blue Eagles’ flight to perfection
Ateneo de Manila University carved its name in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) record books as the only team to win a title by sweeping the season since the Final Four format had been implemented. The Blue Eagles had it all. They had a decorated international guru in Tab Baldwin as mentor as well as a solid cast of stars headed by Thirdy Ravena, Isaac Go, Mike and Matt Nieto, SJ Belangel, Will Navarro, Gian Mamuyac and Ivorian Angelo Kouame.
But their road to glory wasn’t easy.
After sweeping the eliminations, all eyes were on the Blue Eagles with University of the Philippines, Far Eastern University and University of Santo Tomas going through the step-ladder phase to determine who will challenge them in the best-of-three finals.
The fourth-seed Growing Tigers were peaking. They crushed the Tamaraws to gain the right to face second-seed Fighting Maroons.
Despite being armed with a twice-to-beat advantage, the Tigers clobbered the Maroons to book a dream finals duel with the Blue Eagles.
At that point, Ateneo was cold while UST was riding the crest of its morale-boosting conquest in the semifinals.
But the Blue Eagles displayed the heart of a champion.
They delivered a masterclass in Game 1 to pull off a 91-77 win and move within a win shy of completing a perfect season.
UST, bannered by champion coach Aldin Ayo, tried to make Game 2 an interesting battle, but Ateneo was so good and so talented to be denied. They essayed an 86-79 win to make history as the only team to sweep the season since the Tigers of future Philippine Basketball Association stars in Rey Evangelista, Dennis Espino, Bal David and Edmund Reyes ruled in 1994.
Here are the crucial figures that serve as fitting reminder of Ateneo’s road to perfection.
5
Ateneo’s perfect season will not be possible without the brilliance of the Fab Five of Ravena, Kouame, Matt Nieto, Navarro and Adrian Wong.
With this starting unit doing damage, the rest of the
Blue Eagles played like a well-oiled machine that have an energy that rubbed off until the last man sitting at the end of the bench.
What a team.
18-0
Ateneo didn’t need only five or 10 wins to wrap it up: It needed 18.
Yes, the Blue Eagles won 18 games without a single loss to immortalize themselves in the record books as the squad that finished the season without a single loss.
It was definitely such a tough act to follow.
8
As a testament of their dominance, eight of the league’s past 12 titles were won by the Blue Eagles.
Overall, they clinched a total of 11 crowns dating back to the time of Enrico Villanueva, Wesley Gonzales, Doug Kramer, LA Tenorio and Chris Tiu.
They are fourth in the UAAP all-time behind FEU (20), UST (18) and University of the East (18).
3
With the feat, Thirdy Ravena collected his third UAAP title.
Ravena, a second-generation cager, served as the catalyst to the Blue Eagles historic romp as he scored 17 points, seven rebounds and five assists in the deciding game of the championship series to win his third finals Most Valuable Player award.
7 26
By sweeping the season, the Blue Eagles practically won over all seven teams in the league.
Sure, they had some scary moments in the finals against the Growling Tigers, but Baldwin always made sure that order will be restored and everything is under control en route to the biggest win of their lives.
The 18-0 streak was just a tip of the iceberg.
Actually, Ateneo’s winning ways that dated back to last season. The Blue Eagles shut down their campaign in Season 81 with an oozing eight-game winning streak to seal the title against a pesky UP squad.
The last time they lost was on 10 October 2018 when they surrendered a 60-63 decision to the Tamaraws. Since then, the Blue Eagles were on a rampage and won their next 26 assignments to win two titles in a row.