Elmer Espiritu and Pari Llagas spoiled Ateneo’s victory party last night, lifting University of the East to a convincing 88-68 win that extended the UAAP Finals to a deciding Game 3 on Thursday at the Araneta Coliseum.
Espiritu had a game-high 22 points along with four rebounds while Llagas added 19 points, six rebounds and five assists as UE moved within a win of ending a 24-year title drought.
The Warriors have never won a single match in the finals since winning the 1985 crown.
"They delivered big time. Wala kaming finocus talaga sa kanila kundi 'graduating na kayo, aalis na kayo. What's gonna differentiate you from the previous UE greats for the past 23 years and what would you have that they don't'," said UE coach Lawrence Chongson.
After a disappointing 78-71 loss in the series opener last Thursday, the Warriors played with a lot of fire with Paul Lee and Val Acuna contributing 13 and 12 points, respectively.
Only four teams in the last 14 years have won the title from a 0-1 deficit.
"I told the boys that we're playing the game of our lives. 'If we lose today, what we'll gonna do tomorrow? Yung ibang tao, they go to about their routine e tayo anu gagawin natin? matagal na titigan yan sa kisame," Chongson said.
The win marked the first time the Warriors beat Ateneo since a 73-68 victory on August 12, 2007.
The high-flying Espiritu did the most damage from the outside draining 4-of-5 treys. He highlighted his performance with a completed alley-oop dunk off Lee for a 79-60 lead with 4:40 to go in the contest.
"Wala naman sa plano yun (na tumira sa labas), talagang gusto ko lang itira kasi gameplan namin sa loob at makakuha ng tempo," said Espiritu, who was earlier named into the league's Mythical Five prior to tipoff.
The bull-strong Llagas made several passes to Lee that was key in UE's second half surge before burying his only three of the game, 8:54 remaining in the payoff period, for a 69-53 advantage.
Rabeh Al-Hussaini led the Blue Eagles with 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting along with seven rebounds, Emman Monfort came off the bench with 12 while Jai Reyes added 11 but shot 3-of-11 treys in a losing effort.
"We couldn't defend them, especially the big guys and we started relying too much on our outside shooting instead of attacking but more importantly, we just didn't do a better job defending the basket," said Ateneo mentor Norman Black.
Game Thursday (Araneta Coliseum)
3:30 p.m. — Ateneo vs UE
(Series tied 1-1)
UE 88 — Espiritu 22, Llagas 19, Lee 13, Acuna 12, Lingganay 7, Reyes 6, Zamar 5, Duran 4, Tagarda 0, Bandaying 0.
ATENEO 68 — Al-Hussaini 18, Monfort 12, Reyes 11, Baclao 10, Austria 6, Salamat 4, Long 3, Chua 2, Buenafe 2, Sumalinog 0, Salva 0.
Quarters: 18-15, 38-40, 63-53, 88-68.
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