Eagles eye first ever three-peat

MANILA, Philippines - Crown No. 3 or Game No. 3?

Ateneo guns for the clincher to the school’s first “three-peat” in the UAAP today against a Far Eastern U side looking to recover its wits and force a deciding third game in the league’s Season 73 men’s basketball championship series.

The match is set at 4 p.m. before another expected sellout crowd at the Araneta Coliseum with the Eagles poised to surpass the back-to-back romps of Danny Francisco and Co. in 1988 and the Tamaraws fighting to stay alive and salvage a supposedly dominating season.

The Eagles smothered the top-seeded Tams in the finals opener, 72-49, overpowering the FEU cagers in every department – field goal shooting (47.5 percent vs 27 percent) to rebounds (46 vs 40), assists (18 vs 9), steals (5 vs 3), blocks (6 vs 3) and fastbreak points (15 vs 0).

The rout has made some quarters cast doubt on the Tams’ ability to overturn the series but Ateneo coach Norman Black will not write off FEU yet.

“It takes two games to win the championship so we can’t be overconfident; we know FEU can bounce back,” Black said, whose team welcomes the return of 6-5 slotman Edwin Jason Escueta from suspension in Game 1.

FEU coach Glen Capacio and his wards, led by RR Garcia who’s set to receive the MVP plum in the awards rites at 3 p.m. along with Mythical 5 member Aldrech Ramos and top rookie Terrence Romeo, vowed to go for broke bidding to steal Game 2 and set a rubber match on Saturday.

“We just have to give it our all and execute our game plan,” said Capacio, whose coaching staff had taken extra steps to better prepare their players psychologically for the tremendous pressure of a championship game.

“Mentally, they are ready. We made a few adjustments and one thing is for sure – we will fight until the end and we are here to win,” he added.

Game 1 saw the Eagles’ experience and excellent scouting come to the fore. Crashing the boards, clamping down on the Tams’ perimeter shooters, and running whenever possible, Ateneo raced to a 26-8 first quarter lead and never let up against a shell-shocked FEU.

“This has been a championship team for the last couple of years, and we knew that once we got here, it was our home ground,” said AdMU veteran Kirk Long.

After playing soft and with little effort in the opener, the Tams promised to be extra aggressive and tough this time.

“We’ll do the best we can and come up with more effort,” said Garcia.

Meanwhile, defending women’s champion Adamson seeks the clincher in its own titular showdown with FEU at 11 a.m.

The Lady Falcons drew first blood, 75-69.