KAI Ballungay sys he is on a mission to restore Atenean pride after a slow start to its title defense.
He did well against no less than rival La Salle.
READ: Tab not entirely pleased with Ateneo win: ‘Gutsy, not great’
The 6-foot-7 Fil-American bruiser dished out 18 points and 16 boards in Ateneo's rivalry game win — 12 of which were offensive rebounds.
This extraordinary defensive display did not go unnoticed in the eyes of Ateneo coach Tab Baldwin, who even compared Ballungay to another Blue Eagles stalwart in Ange Kouame.
"I don't very often do this but just a big shoutout to this guy (Kai Ballungay) sitting on my right. Twelve offensive rebounds out of 27 (for the team). 27 is a massive offensive rebounding performance which is indicative that our guys came to battle," Baldwin said.
"For Kai to pull down 12 of those, 12 offensive rebounds, that's beyond Ange Kouame-ish and that's really saying something."
What stood out in Ballungay's performance was his three showstopping clutch dunks in the fourth quarter — a fastbreak slam, a follow-up jam from his missed three-point attempt, and a defense-breaking dunk over two La Salle defenders.
For Ballungay, however, he's not one to actively seek opportunities to put out highlight dunks and just wants to 'keep it simple.'
"I think (the fight) really showed tonight especially on the boards. Our guys did an amazing jobs getting to the boards and pulling those (rebounds) down. I just wanna do my job and do what I can to help this team, whether it be on the boards tonight like I did, just making those types of plays," Ballungay said.
"I don’t hunt for those type of (highlight dunk) opportunities. I just want to keep it simple and play forward as a team," he added.
Ballungay also tipped his hat to fellow big man Mason Amos, whose 12 big markers after a scoreless debut gave the Blue Eagles a crucial push in the endgame to upend the Green Archers.
"It was this guy’s (Mason Amos)’ shooting. He stepped up at the right time and we know he had it in him. The first game was kind of rough for the both of us in shooting the ball. But he found his rhythm and we know that he can do that," Ballungay shared.
"Coach (Tab) has put him in a position to succeed and do those types of things. He showed out tonight in the fourth quarter so I think that was really the momentum switch."
One big 'pride'
Ballungay's personal goal amid Ateneo's quest to keep the crown in their side of Katipunan.
"Just going into this game (against La Salle), the coaching staff has been stressing the past few days to come in this game and fight. It’s something that we lacked in the first game and something that we had to adjust coming into this game, especially being a rivalry game," Ballungay revealed.
"We just wanted to show our sense of pride and show that we can be the guys that can go first, that can be physical, and not just take a beating every night."
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