During this time, Santiago and Morales, alongside others such as Georgie Torres, Federico Lopez, Angelo Cruz, Ruben Rodriguez, Jerome Mincy, Willie Quinones, Mario Butler, Rolando Frazer, Jose Ortiz, Julio Gallardo and others became well known celebrities in Puerto Rico.
The 1979 BSN season saw Santiago accumulate 15 points, 7.1 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game for the Guaynabo team.
That same year (1979) Santiago earned a silver medal at the 1979 Pan American Games held in San Juan.
He played with the Lions for two seasons (those being the 1983 and 1984 BSN seasons), again posting stellar per game numbers, at 23.8 points, 8.2 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 1983 and 22.6 points, 8.3 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game in 1984, before, once again, being traded, this time to the Polluelos de Aibonito, in a city just north of Ponce, Aibonito.
In 1985, Santiago contributed with 23.8 points, 8.2 rebounds and 2.1 assists a game for the surging, southern Puerto Rican team, where he shared playing responsibilities with Rolando Frazer and Enrique Aponte, among others.
After the 1985 BSN season ended, the Polluelos obtained Criollos de Caguas point-guard Willie Melendez, forming a sort of "big three" tandem in Aibonito which was made up of Santiago, Frazer and Melendez, with Aponte as a major, fourth contributor.
The 1986 Aibonito Polluelos were the first team in the franchise's history to reach the BSN Finals and they won the franchise's first and ultimately, only, national championship by defeating the defending champions, Jose "Piculin" Ortiz, Bobby Rios and their Atleticos de San German in seven games, with a Game Seven final score of 94-92.
The Polluelos aimed at repeating as national champions during the 1987 BSN season; Santiago helped the team with 24.2 points, 8.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game.
[2] In 1987, Santiago won his second Pan American Games medal, this time a bronze one.
He kept his streak of seasons scoring in double-figures on a per-game basis alive, with 14.1 points a game along with 4.5 rebounds and 0.7 assists, but his best years were by now clearly behind him.