ANGE Kouame has been a man on a mission in the UAAP men’s basketball Finals.

Getting back into the groove of things just in time in the league’s biggest stage, Kouame is bringing back the form that gave him the Season 84 MVP award.

In Ateneo’s series-tying 65-55 win over University of the Philippines Wednesday night before 20,616 fans at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, the naturalized center left everything on the floor to keep his team alive with 19 points on 57% field goal shooting, 11 rebounds, three steals and three blocks.

Although the Blue Eagles lost Game 1, 66-72, Kouame was able to produce double-double numbers of 15 points and 10 rebounds to go along with two blocks.

He may have been winning their match-up so far against newly-minted MVP Malick Diouf, who is only averaging 5.5 points in the series including a disappointing two-point and minus-8 efficiency rating in Game 2, Kouame knows that team effort kept Ateneo’s season alive.

“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. Bench, Geo (Chiu) was stepping up, Kai Ballungay stepping up, even Sean Quitevis,” said Kouame.

“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 added.

After a scoreless outing in the Finals opener,

Ballungay stepped up big time in Game 2 with 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field and had a +11 efficiency rating.

The Blue Eagles held the Fighting Maroons to 55 points, the lowest output since coach Goldwin Monteverde took over the program last season.

“Coming to this game, we just wanted to be more physical than we were in Game 1. I feel like we wanted to be the aggressors this time, and we wanted to hit first,” said Ballungay.

“And I think it really showed throughout this game. I feel like it’s this type of mentality that we need to carry going into Game 3 that’s gonna give us this championship title,” he added.

Ballungay was pumped up by the visit of Ateneo alums who dropped by in their training prior to Game 2.

“I think it really started Monday night when the alumni came and they spoke to the team. It was real special, not only for the team but for myself especially. Just hearing their stories. The Nieto brothers (Mike and Matt), (Will) Navarro. All those type of guys, and they were able to instill into me a lot of things that they witnessed, things that they experienced in their careers” said Ballungay.

“Game 1, it didn’t go the way I wanted it, the way this team wanted it. But coming in tonight, I just wanted to impact the game anywhere that I could, whether that be on the glass, scoring, whatever it is. I just wanted to help this team” he added.

The winner-take-all match is set at 6 p.m. on Monday at the fabled Big Dome.

Game Monday

(Smart Araneta Coliseum)
6 p.m. – UP vs Ateneo (Men Finals, Game 3)