A SECOND STRAIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP for Ateneo or the end of a 24-year title drought for University of the East.

That’s the motivation for the Blue Eagles and the Red Warriors when they clash at 3:30 p.m. today in a rubber match for the UAAP basketball crown at the Araneta Coliseum.

Ateneo, bidding to pull off a second back-to-back title romp since 1987-1988, won the opener of the best-of-three series, 78-71, Thursday before underdog UE forced a climactic Game 3 with an 88-68 rout Sunday.

The Loyola-based Ateneans could make it a double celebration with the defending champions Blue Eaglets hoping to retain their junior title against the De La Salle Zobel Junior Archers in another playoff starting at 11 a.m. also at the Big Dome.

Tickets for each of the do-or-die duels were sold separately, meaning the Ateneo-UE game will have a separate set of spectators from the Ateneo-La Salle match.

Both coaches—Ateneo’s Norman Black and UE’s Lawrence Chongson—point to their opponent as the favored squad this time.

“I think it’s 60-40 in Ateneo’s favor,” said Chongson. “I’ve already said that Ateneo has everything, from their basketball program to the crowd support, they have the advantage.”

But Black felt otherwise.

“After what happened [in Game 2], I’m sure they’ll be brimming with confidence,” he noted.

Black said he won’t have problems firing up the Eagles, who dominated the eliminations and easily made it to the finals by ousting University of Santo Tomas.

“At this point of the season it will be easy for us to get up on Thursday,” said Black after Sunday’s loss. “Everybody understands that we only need one game to win the championship.”

The Warriors finished third in the eliminations then needed two games to boot out pretournament pick Far Eastern University in the Final Four.

Meanwhile, the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) said yesterday that its investigators have confirmed reports on individuals attempting to influence the outcome of today’s game.

PAOCC chair Grepor Butch Belgica told the Inquirer Wednesday that the agency, through its Civilian Intelligence Network, has gathered the names of individuals allegedly involved in the illegal sports trade.

“We have a group of civilian intelligence that has been monitoring betting and game-fixing activities,” said Belgica.