“Nobody gave us much of a chance to win this year, so this is sweeter for all of us and for the Ateneo community.” Those were the words of Ateneo head coach Norman Black, the man who steered the Blue Eagles to their third straight UAAP senior division basketball championship. Ateneo edged Far Eastern University 65 – 62 in Game 2 of the Season 73 Finals in front of over 17,000 fans, predominantly on the blue side.

Coming of a huge 72-49 Game 1 thumping, the Tamaraws of Coach Glen Capacio looked set to turn things around, leading as much as 11 points in the opening period of Game 2. FEU was the consensus Number 1 ranked team this year, and they had the best regular season record. Their humiliation in Game 1 was carried not just in the sports world, but throughout the general populace. Even news columnists and opinion makers of all sorts weighed in on that Game 1 massacre. Speculations once again ran wild, of shenanigans that had little to do with what was happening on the court. It seems the misfortune of FEU that their last couple of seasons always seemed to unravel with things that had little or nothing to do with playing ball.

In the first period veterans Paul Sanga and Reil Cervantes made certain the Tamaraws would start out strong, as they came out more aggressively than in their Game 1 debacle. Cervantes attacked the Ateneo defense early before it had a chance to set up, even as Sanga kept looking for his shots as well. Season 73 most valuable player Ryan Roose Garcia was also playing a bit more relaxed and was not forcing the action, looking for the open man and running the high-low offense with control and patience. FEU came out ahead 22-13 after their first 10 game minutes.

Black however has mastered the science of in-game adjustment and had his boys set up a simpler defense based on the extended foul line. Keeping their Box-and-1 defense, the Blue Eagles also switched seamlessly to a 2-3 zone once the ball crossed the foul-line-extended. This kept the FEU offense from exploiting their advantages in size and athleticism, forcing the Tamaraw guards to try and maneuver around the Ateneo defense from about 30 feet out, milking the shot clock silly and keeping the FEU offense from kicking into high gear.

Meanwhile, Ryan Buenafe was getting his game going. While the defense was holding, Buenafe was kick starting the Ateneo offense. Nico Salva, Justin Chua, Kirk Long and Eman Monfort were getting a piece of the action as well. Eric Salamat, who has not really had a good Finals game throughout his college career, was doing all of the other things that help teams win important games. Salamat wasn't getting much done on offense but he was playing the passing lanes and picking off passes and dribbles with his usual alacrity. He was also finding the breakout players in transition and lobbing the outlet passes to beat the FEU transition defense. Suddenly Ateneo was knocking on the door, down just 30-31 at the lemon time break.

Coach Glen Capacio of FEU must have felt all the pressure as he suffered a major case of high blood pressure and hypertension during the halftime break. He asked his assistant coaches to talk to the team since he reportedly could not address the team. He was brought to hospital and was unable to coach in the second half. “He suddenly felt dizzy late in the second half. It all started when he complained to one of the referees about a call. He couldn't address the team anymore during the break. He was brought to Medical City in Pasig.” said FEU Athletics Director Mark Molina.

In the pivotal third period Ateneo was dead set on taking the lead and it would be Monfort, Long, Buenafe and Salva who would be doing a lot of the firing. FEU looked like it would streak to yet another big lead as Cervantes, Sanga and Aldrech Ramos blasted through the Ateneo post defense with pivots and hop-skips. Cervantes was particularly devastating as he repeatedly went through the defenses of Chua, Frank Golla and Jason Escueta. With his strength and ability to make awkward shots even when taking contact, he gave FEU a 38-32 lead. Black was unperturbed as he just reminded his boys to stick to the defensive plan and keep crashing the boards.

Monfort finally gave Ateneo the lead with a strong drive rebounding his own missed three-pointer. A pair of freethrows from Buenafe made it 43-40 for Ateneo. FEU was already beginning to get tentative. Without any direction coming from their coaching staff, and Ateneo keeping up the pressure, the Tamaraws were spinning their wheels and not really getting much done. Garcia was firing blanks, and Terrence Romeo, the Season 73 rookie of the year was doing likewise. Romeo would go on the foul out off a hack on Long. Cervantes was still muscling his way down low and trying to keep his team in the fight, but he wasn't getting much help. After three periods of play Ateneo had the lead at 52-50.

Come the payoff fourth period it turned into a real battle of attrition. In a span of some three minutes the score was knotted at 54-all. JR Cawaling tied the count with a nifty layup. This however was Buenafe's time to shine with some help from Monfort, as he carried his team on his back and provided stability and leadership in the homestretch. Buenafe inside and used his thickness and strength to either stick close-in baskets or fish for fouls. When the defense focused on him he facilitated and helped move the ball, finding Salva, Chua and even Escueta. Monfort meanwhile was either collaring offensive rebounds or tapping loose balls to his teammates, all five feet and six inches of him.

FEU had one last bit of fight left in them as they started crashing the boards with greater gusto. Ramos, Cervantes, Cawaling were all crashing the boards and soaring high up to get second-chance opportunities. Unfortunately for the Tamaraws they were simply not cashing in on these opportunities. Sanga missed two long treys. Garcia muffed two more. Cervantes and Ramos had layups rolling out. Most telling of all, FEU was firing blanks even from the charity stripe. Sanga, Cervantes and Ramos missed four of FEU's last seven freethrows. Sanga's misses were particularly painful because he was awarded three freethrows when Golla nicked his arm on a three-point attempt. He stepped to the line and promptly clanked the first two shots as they left his hands in a short arc. At that point the score was at 61-58 for Ateneo, and his three charities could have tied the game anew.

Buenafe had one last bit of drama when Ateneo got the ball back. With the score at 61-59, he suddenly nailed a long trey to make it 64-59, time down to 22 seconds and change. He popped his jersey to the already-celebrating Ateneo crowd. Bacon Austria split his charities and Cervantes nailed a last-second trey for the final count.

Buenafe led Ateneo with a game-high 23 points, his best of the season. With the excess weight he put on he was an easy target for critics. He silenced the lot of them with this game. Monfort added 10 while Salva had nine.

Cervantes led FEU with 15 points and 10 rebounds while Sanga added 13. Garcia, who averaged a tournament-leading 16-plus points per game was held to six. Romeo, who set a junior division record with 83 points in one game last year, had a miserable day with only two points.

“Definitely this is the most difficult championship we've won in the last three years,” Black said. “There were a lot of doubters but we pulled it off.” Black came in as a consultant and was eventually named head coach in 2005. “I don't want to insult my former players, but this is by far the most gratifying championship we've had here in Ateneo.” FEU beat Ateneo in both rounds of the eliminations.

“Sinwerte lang tayo, idol,” said the soft-spoken Buenafe. This from a man who has not stopped winning championships since his sophomore year in San Sebastian high school. He and Salamat were teammates when he won his first NCAA junior division championship. He could very well end his college career with a title for each of his five years of eligibility.

Ateneo joins Lasalle, Santo Tomas and University of the East as the teams to win at least three straight UAAP championships. This was also payback for 2003 when Ateneo lost their title to FEU. “Lilima tayo,” said Salva during the raucous on-court celebrations. Considering he said that last year as well, there is little that would make anyone doubt him.