HoopWatch

QUEZON CITY, Philippines - Amidst all the pressure, against all odds, and among bad calls, the Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles won Game One of the University Athletics Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Finals 73-72.� Ateneo forward Doug Kramer scored on an undergoal stab from a perfect long pass from guard Macky Escalona with a second remaining to lift the Blue Eagles past the University of Sto. Thomas (UST) Growling Tigers.

Earlier, UST forward Allan Evangelista scored on a fade-away jumper against Kramer for the go-ahead basket with one second remaining in the game. The noise became unbearable as it reached the highest decibels as UST fans, alumni and students celebrated. Then Ateneo Coach Norman Black drew up perhaps the most perfect play for the season, calling the inbounds pass from the smallest Ateneo cager on the floor to a wide-open Doug Kramer who was cutting towards the basket at the “nickest” of time for the catch-and-shoot play.

For that play, everyone was expecting the ball to go to Ateneo superstar versatile forward JC Intal or to the clutch shooting guard Chris Tiu, who had� won at least four games before for the Blue Eagles via a last second shot. Instead, Black designed the play for Kramer with Intal and Tiu as decoys. Kramer was the forgotten man in that play, and UST paid dearly for it.

This could have been the best UAAP game of the season with both teams battling for at least 18 deadlocks and 15 lead changes. Ateneo led 19-15 at the end of the first. The game was tied at 35 at the end of the second, and tied again at 57 at the end of the third. Ateneo was in trouble in the fourth being down by as much as 5 until Intal took over. He scored 5 straight field goals for the Blue Eagles carrying the team on his shoulders when they needed him the most.

The game turned ugly once again as bad and missed calls were called by the referees. There were a lot of questionable calls in the game as much as there were a lot of questionable calls in that Final Four game against Adamson. It would have been ok if the bad calls are called on both sides. But the past two Ateneo games had been one-sided favoring the opposing teams, and they were crucial calls at that. The shove by UST center Gervy Cruz against Ford Arao wasn’t called, instead Tiu was called for a foul which ended in Cruz making two free throws. Then, Intal was called for a backing violation when he stole an inbound pass, which clearly wasn’t since Intal naturally ran towards the Ateneo court for a fast break. He leapt in a forward motion towards their court for a shot. Ateneo led by one 72-71 at that time. Evangelista then made a fade-away jumper for the lead.

Despite all that, Ateneo emerged as the victor at the end. Black did not plead his case anymore since he would just be slapped with a technical foul like what happened in that Adamson game a week ago. Ateneo accepted all the odds, and treated them as mere challenges. They remained focused towards the goal.

This is a three-game series, and Ateneo, hopefully could wrap up a perfect season this Thursday with the championship trophy. (pics courtesy of rpsports.com)