Backup guard Tonino Gonzaga collared the last rebound of the season and dribbled up the court with the final few seconds of UAAP Season 74 ticking away. He handed the ball off to graduating senior Bacon Austria with still a tick and a half left as Austria and the rest of the Ateneo De Manila Blue Eagles walked onto the floor of the Araneta Coliseum. At that point the clock kept ticking even as the Far Eastern University Tamaraws could only bow and shake their heads. When the final buzzer sounded another UAAP basketball season had entered the history books. “I just saw Bacon walking onto the court and I knew that was it, mission accomplished,” Gonzaga said during the tumultuous celebrations on the hardwood as reporters, fans, other well-wishers and the TV people were swept up in the jubilation.

History was made as the Ateneo joined Santo Tomas, De La Salle and University of the East in the Elite 4-Peat Club of teams who have all won four straight UAAP cage titles. This marks the longest ever title reign in the history of the Ateneo, including those heady days back when they were in the NCAA and their real rival was San Beda College. This is also the longest title reign by a team mentored by Norman Black. Black is one of only four coaches in the pro leagues to have completed a PBA Grand Slam of three straight conference championships. His title reign with the Ateneo is longer than that, and he’s had to get that job done over four years, not three conferences within a single year. “This is really for all the Ateneo fans, and the best and most supportive school community in the country,” Black declared.

A lot of people thought this was actually inevitable. Black’s three previous Ateneo title teams were deep and talented, but perhaps none of them were as highly touted as this Season 74 version. His first championship team featured Season 71 MVP Rabeh Al-Hussaini, defensive demon Nonoy Baclao, Season 71 Rookie of the Year Ryan Buenafe, cerebral team leader Chris Tiu, and hotshot Jai Reyes. Coming off the bench were Kirk Long, Mike Baldos, Eric Salamat, Jobe Nkemakolam and Yuri Escueta. His Season 74 roster however included 7-foot Greg Slaughter, phenomenal rookie guard Kiefer Ravena, and older and much-improved versions of Long, Nico Salva and Eman Monfort. Throughout the regular season they had the least productive bench in the league, but the starters were just so dominant they hardly needed help. Perhaps the only other team that was looked at as sure champions was the Season 72 team that needed three games to finish off UE in the 2009 Finals.

Slaughter is not the most athletic of big men, but his sheer size and all the training he got from the best teaching staff in college basketball was put to maximum use. He was dunking on teams with the ease a tall kid would reach up to a high shelf to reach for a can. He rebounded and then ran the floor to finish a fastbreak, a staple for all Ateneo big men. Ravena didn’t score in his first ever senior division game but then went on a tear, showing not only his physical gifts but his incredible basketball IQ. Salva quietly produced at both forwards spots as the backbone of the team. Long defended all of the best opposing players. Monfort completed his transformation into a star pointguard on a championship team.

And while the starters were dominating every game, the bench slowly came into its own, with Gonzaga, Juami Tiongson and Justin Chua getting better and producing more as the season wore on. By playoff time they had nearly doubled their regular season output. Chua proved steady off the bench at the 5 and 4 spots in Game 1. Tiongson had 11 points off the bench including a five-point cluster in the second half that precipitated the Ateneo breakaway that buried FEU in Game 2. Gonzaga also had a three-pointer and a completed And-1 play that all but sealed the doom of the Tamaraws in Game 2. But perhaps the best story on the Ateneo bench was 6-foot-7 center JP Erram. Erram just seems to have it in for FEU. He was the surprise package for Black in last year’s Finals, and he reprised that role this year. He came off the bench to wreak havoc on the FEU perimeter game with his speed, agility and length.

Indeed, about the only time the Ateneo seemed challenged this season were its two games versus Adamson University. Right on opening weekend, the well-coached Falcons had the Blue Eagles on the ropes for most of the game before just falling short 55-51. Adamson however would get its revenge and prevent a rare regular season sweep as they became the only team to beat the Ateneo this season 46-62 to end the eliminations and assure a Final 4. Everybody and his brother thought that the two teams would surely dispute the Season 74 championship in an epic finale. Only the Ateneo fulfilled its end of that dream match, disposing of the UST Growling Tigers in their Final 4 encounter. Adamson however, blowing their hard-earned twice-to-beat advantage, were ousted by FEU in their own Final 4 encounter.

These Finals proved to be nothing but an all-Ateneo showcase and the expected rematch turned into an all out rout, as the Blue Eagles shredded the Tamaraws 82-64 in Game 1, and then finished off the Tamaraws 82-69 in Game 2. In both games the third period proved to be lethal for the Tamaraws. Black simply adjusted his perimeter defense to blunt the high pick-roll and high pick-pop sets of FEU, then ordered his boys to push the tempo and look for the outlet pass off every rebound. Ateneo had a 27-16 advantage in the third period of Game 1, and an even bigger 22-9 cushion in Game 2. Salva led the third-period onslaught in both games. He added on to the mystique of Ateneo invincibility completing a perfect game in Game 1, shooting 8-8 from the field and 7-7 from the freethrow line. He was named the Season 74 Finals MVP averaging 19.5 points over the two-game sweep. “This is for my family, my fans and the entire Ateneo community,” Salva said after the championship.

While the Blue Eagles are again basking in very familiar glory, there is still some basketball to be played. With their fourth straight UAAP championship they have been automatically seeded into the Final 4 of the Philippine Collegiate Champions League or PCCL. They will enjoy a twice-to-beat advantage, either against the Visayas-Mindanao champion or the Greater Luzon champion. “The strongest team in the country automatically earned a twice-to-beat advantage in the PCCL Final 4. I wonder how that will turn out,” mused Alan Taule, an alumnus and former college coach with a big smile and a chuckle.

History is indeed a fine thing. But with this fourth straight championship, in the most competitive era of the UAAP, the Blue Eagles have achieved something in the here and now: basketball immortality.