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Ateneo’s Kai Ballungay. –MARLO CUETO/INQYIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines — Kai Ballungay provided the much-needed energy for Ateneo with his rebounds and emphatic dunks in the fourth quarter to overcome archrival La Salle, 77-72, in the UAAP Season 86 men’s basketball tournament on Wednesday at Mall of Asia Arena.

Ballungay dunked over his defenders to give the Blue Eagles a 72-67 breather with only a minute left and they never looked back to earn their first win in two games.

“I just want to do my job. Do what I can to help this team, whether it be on the boards tonight like I did, just making those kinds of plays,” said Ballungay, who dropped 18 points and grabbed 16 rebounds.

KEEPING IT SIMPLE

Ateneo’s Kai Ballungay soars for a dunk against La Salle in the UAAP Season 86 men’s basketball tournament.–MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

After being limited to just four points on 0-of-6 shooting from the field in their opening game loss to National University, the Filipino-American forward insisted his vicious dunks were only part of his job in helping the team bounce back.

“Whatever it is, I just want to be able to help my team. I don’t hunt for those types of opportunities. I just want to keep it simple and just do my job. That’s something the coaching staff has been preaching to us. Just do your job and play for what is out there tonight,” he said. 

Ateneo coach Tab Baldwin praised Ballungay’s rebounding as he grabbed the team’s 27 offensive boards.

“Twenty-seven is a massive offensive rebounding performance, which is indicative that our guys came to battle. For Kai to pull down 12 of those is I don’t know…that’s beyond Ange Kouame-ish, really. That’s really saying something,” the Ateneo coach said.

Ballungay, one of the remaining holdovers from last year’s title run, said the new-look Blue Eagles responded to Baldwin after the four-time UAAP champion coach lamented their lack of fight last Saturday.

“The coaching staff was discussing in the past few days just coming to this game and fight. It’s something that we lacked in the first game and something that we have to adjust to coming to this game, especially with it being a rivalry game,” he said.

“We just wanted to show our sense of pride and show that we can beat the guys that can get first and beat the guys that can be physical and not just take a beating every night. I think it really showed tonight, especially on the boards. A lot of our guys did an amazing job getting to the boards and pulling those down.”

Ballungay was thrilled to get their first win of their season against their rivals but he doesn’t want to waste the momentum they gained as Ateneo eyes its second straight win against Adamson on Saturday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

“It’s definitely something that boosts our morale moving forward. We just gotta take it as one game and keep pushing forward, build on this definitely, and take what we can take and learn from the experiences we have in this game and just keep building moving forward,” Ballungay said.

Ateneo coach Tab Baldwin, Kai Ballungay, and Mason Amos after getting their first win in the #UAAPSeason86 with a 77-72 victory.

Posted by Inquirer Sports on Wednesday, October 4, 2023