The FEU Tamaraws defeated the Ateneo Blue Eagles twice during the elimination round and ended up with the top spot in the ranking before the Final four began. But Ateneo’s championship experience helped them acquire their third straight championship. Only a few schools achieve a three-peat. Ateneo joins University of the East, University Santo Tomas, Far Eastern University and De la Salle University in the list of schools that have achieved a third straight championship title in the UAAP Basketball games.
Since Ateneo did not win against FEU during the elimination round, the result of the first game of the finals was a surprise. Ateneo won by 23 points with an end game score of 72 to 49. So come Game 2 of the finals, it was expected that the Tamaraws won’t give up that easily. During the first quarter, it seems that FEU was on the right track. They scored 22 points while allowing Ateneo to score only 13 points. The second quarter was a different story. Ateneo rallied and score a total of 17 points while FEU only scored 9 points. FEU still leads by a point when the 1st half ended.
Both teams did not allow each other to break away in terms of scoring. The quarter ended with a score of 52 to 50 favoring Ateneo. It was a close game but the Blue eagles emerged victorious against the number 1 seat, FEU Tamaraws with a score of 65 to 62. The Tamaraws poor free throw shooting in the fourth quarter cost them the game and the Championship. FEU failed to convert four free throws in the last remaining minutes of the game. Out of the 4 missed free throws, 2 could have tied the game with only a minute remaining in the game.
Buenafe was the top scorer of the game with 23 points. Season MVP Ryan Roose Garcia of FEU was held to only 6 points. Rookie of the year Terrence Romeo, also from FEU, only contributed 2 points the entire game.
