In the era of “small ball” basketball, height is still might.
National team standout Ange Kouame gave every millimeter of his seven-foot frame in the air, on the skin of every Maroon player, and on the hardcourt of the Big Dome, as the Ivorian-turned-Filipino giant led the underdog Ateneo de Manila Blue Eagles’ push back of defending champions University of the Philippines (UP) Fighting Maroons, 75-68, Monday evening in the deciding Game Three of the UAAP men’s basketball finals.
As the Fighting Maroons scrambled and, as usual, crammed their way to an epic comeback, Kouame hit an undergoal stab and the bonus free throw from a foul after a James Spencer three in the last two minutes to pad the Blue Eagles’ lead at 70-62.
In the ensuing play, Kouame swatted a short jumper by Carl Tamayo while free throws from BJ Andrade secured the championship for the Blue and White, despite a late Hail Mary triple by Harold Alarcon.
Kouame led the Blue Eagles with 19 points, 12 rebounds, and four rejections and was named Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP).
But his game-long, nay, series-long regime of the shaded area was the ultimate bane to the State U’s title retention bid.
Kouame basically played like a goalkeeper, frustrating Season MVP Malick Diouf, who finished the game with seven points and 19 rebounds, and Carl Tamayo, who only afforded 11 points and nine rebounds.
In addition, his interior defense, reinforced by the peskiness of Ateneo’s guards, forced UP to shoot only 31 per cent of their shots from the field.
“We knew this will be an inside game. In Game One, we lost and our bigs didn’t perform, and in Game Two, we tried to overcome that and talk to one another especially us bigs,” Kouame commented after the game, referring to Ateneo’s triple tower attack with Geo Chiu and Matthew Daves to tie the series last Wednesday.
“If we want to win this series, we need to overcome that,” he concluded.
Ateneo’s dominance of the shaded lane was enough to stave off any Maroon comeback, anchoring a 9-0 start off five points from Forthsky Padrigao that ballooned to as much as 20, 52-32, at the start of the third quarter.
UP then mounted a furious run for a 17-3 run when Kouame was benched due to avoid a fourth foul to trim the lead to six, 49-55.
JD Cagulangan, UP’s hero in last season’s finals, jumpstarted with four points of driving layups while Spencer scored 11 points off three triples.
Reserve center Henry Galinato then made mincemeat of Geo Chiu’s defense, scoring eight points from inside stabs, including a dunk that he was able to convert.
But the return of Kouame by the end of the quarter and the final canto sealed the paint anew for the Maroons as passes to Tamayo and Diouf went awry while the burly 6’6” frame of Galinato was not enough to overcome the verticality of the Blue giant.
“A great start to the game, a great first half, and then we weathered the storm,” assessed Ateneo coach Tab Baldwin of his team’s performance.
“We’re just so very, very blessed that we won it this time,” he added.
With the win, the Blue Eagles have collared their fourth men’s basketball trophy in five seasons and have broken the championship tie in their head-to-head matchup against the Fighting Maroons.
Assisting Koume were point guards Padrigao and Vince Gomez, who scored 12 points each and combined for four triples.
The graduating Spencer led the Fighting Maroons with 14 points off four triples while Alarcon and Galinato added 12 points apiece.
Zavier Lucero, UP’s second leading scorer with 11.4 points per game, did not play except for the final second due to an ACL injury he sustained in Game Two.
He shot UP’s final point—a technical foul free throw—with 0.7 left to finish his collegiate career.
The score
Ateneo 75 – Kouame 19, Padrigao 12, Gomez 12, Andrade 10, Koon 4, Quitevis 4, Ballungay 4, Chiu 4, Daves 4, Ildefonso 2, Lazaro 0
UP 68 – Spencer 14, Alarcon 12, Galinato 12, Tamayo 11, Cagulangan 9, Diouf 7, Gonzales 2, Lucero 1, Abadiano 0, Fortea 0, Lina 0
Quarter scores: 30-14, 47-32, 60-52, 75-67
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