Ateneo Blue Eagles prove once again why they were the no 1 team in the UAAP, outlasting the La Salle Green Archers 69-61. Rookie Ryan Buanafe, provided the much needed firepower in the first half as he scored all of his 12 points, grabbing 8 rebounds and dishing out 4 assists. With Chris Tiu and Nonoy Baclao sat out the most of the first half because of foul trouble, Jai Reyes came out blazing and provided the lift, hitting 3 3-pointers. Trailing 26-29 after a La Salle run, the Eagles closed out the first half with 10-to-0 spurt. Back-to-back baskets by their center Rabeh Al-Hussaini in the third quarter, the Eagles were ahead for good as they made the largest lead of 14 points. Al-Hussaini's dominance was the big thorn and problem for the Archers. He scored 20 of his 31 points in the second half and finishing the game with 10 rebounds.Chris Tiu was nowhere to be found as he was affected early by foul trouble and finishing the game with 2 points. Another unsung hero was Nonoy Baclao making 2 straight rejections on James Mangahas and Rico Maierhofer in La Salle's attempt to trim the lead. He finished with 7 block shots.. JV Casio still managed to score 20 points on 8 out of 24 shooting and Maierhofer finished with 17 points and 16 rebounds. With a sellout crowd of 23000 in Game 1, and this would even be better in the next game this thursday. Ateneo Vs La Salle once again..
