MANILA, Philippines — Ateneo’s Ange Kouame did the heavy lifting in Game Two of the UAAP Season 85 finals as he finished with a double-double against the UP Fighting Maroons to force a winner-take-all Game Three next week.
Flashing his fine form that Ateneo has come to expect from the naturalized Filipino, Kouame said that he particularly liked what he saw from the younger Blue Eagles this game.
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Not a stranger to success in the UAAP, with multiple titles to his name, Kouame saw the same fire in his teammates in wanting to regain the crown from the Fighting Maroons.
“It's not about me, it's about the whole team. What I really want to talk about is the performance of the whole team,” said Kouame after the game.
“[The] bench, Geo [Chiu] was stepping up, Kai Ballungay stepping up, even Sean Quitevis. And you know, it really makes me feel in the right position to be able to be with them and see that they really want it as much as I want it. So I think it's a team effort. It's not just about me getting a double-double,” he continued.
Playing the biggest supporting role to Kouame was Ballungay, who ended up with 15 points after going scoreless in the first game of the series.
Ballungay hopes to bring the same energy in Game Three on Monday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
“Coming to this game, we just wanted to be more physical than we were in Game One. I feel like we wanted to be the aggressors this time, and we wanted to hit first. And I think it really showed throughout this game,” said Ballungay.
“I feel like it's this type of mentality that we need to carry going into Game Three that's gonna give us this championship title,” he added.
Kouame, Ballungay and the rest of the Blue Eagles gun for their fourth title in five seasons against the Fighting Maroons on Monday, 6 p.m.