PROJECTED to be a major contributor for Ateneo this season, it has been an up-and-down campaign for Kai Ballungay.
But Ballungay is confident he's already settled in, coming up with a huge game at the end of the elimination round to get a boost in morale as Ateneo enters the Final Four as the top seed.
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"Coming into the season, it was just me just getting used to the Filipino style of basketball and really just getting comfortable with the UAAP," said Ballungay, who averaged 11.0 points, 5.7 boards, and 1.1 assists in the elimination round.

"I think comparing my first game to where I am now, I think I've taken a lot of leaps. That's a credit to the coaching staff like coach Tab [Baldwin], coach Sandy [Arespacochaga]. They really made it easy for players like myself to get comfortable in the system and just really get comfortable in the game."
"We knew that we secured the top two seed, but we didn't want that to cloud our focus coming into this game," said Ballungay. "And we knew how much this game meant to them and we just wanted to want it more."
Ballungay played huge in the 66-61 win over Adamson, tallying 18 points from three three-pointers and 14 rebounds as the Blue Eagles ended the second round with a six-game win streak.
"At the end of the day, it just came down to execution on offense and intensity on defense, and that's what got us this win tonight," he said
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