INQUIRER Sports

(Editor?s note: The University of Santo Tomas Tigers have won three of their seven games for a 3-4 record, not 2-5 as earlier reported. Our apologies for the error.)

Nonoy Baclao blocked two shots as Ateneo de Manila University held University of Santo Tomas to a single basket in the last five minutes for a 64-57 victory that lifted the Blue Eagles back to the solo lead at the end of the first round of the 71st UAAP men?s basketball competition Sunday at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.

Baclao helped shut down the Tigers? fourth-quarter surge with two key rejections against UST stars Dylan Ababou and Jervy Cruz as the Eagles zoomed ahead for good with a 13-0 run after trailing at 51-54.

?We?re in a good position right now going into the second round; we wanted to be in the top two and we were able to accomplish that,? said coach Norman Black after the Eagles stayed on top alone at 6-1.

?We got back to what really got us off to a good start and that?s playing defense. We got away from it the past two games. We still got killed in the rebounds (against UST), but at the same time, we got stops when we needed it down the stretch.?

Rabeh Al-Hussaini, who shot a season-record 33 points in their first loss, 72-66, against FEU last Thursday, again led the Eagles with 17 points and six rebounds.

Baclao, who had 11 rebounds and four blocks, scored his lone bucket to put the Eagles on top, 56-54, in the last four minutes.

?He?s our best defensive player, there?s no question about that,? said Black of the 6-foot-4 Baclao.

Earlier, Jonathan Jahnke stepped up at crunch time as National University snapped its winless run with a 69-61 stunner over the streaking Far Eastern University.

Jahnke, a 5-foot-10 senior guard, drilled six straight points in the final minute to lift the Bulldogs to a 67-61 lead and doom the Tamaraws, who fell out of the lead and dropped into a two-way tie for second with De La Salle University at 5-2.

Jahnke nailed 12 of his 15 points from beyond the arc, including a clutch triple from the right elbow that pushed the Bulldogs ahead, 65-61, with 34.4 seconds remaining.

?Winning and doing it consistently are two different things; we have to maintain that mindset,? said coach Manny Dandan after the Bulldogs snapped the Tamaraws? four-game winning roll.

Jewel Ponferrada topscored with 16 points, seven coming in the third quarter, for the Bulldogs, who surged to their biggest lead at 50-40.

The Tigers, who spoiled the Eagles? splendid run in 2006 to capture the crown, dropped to fifth place with only three wins in seven games.

UST main man Jervy Cruz finished with a season-low eight points after averaging a league-best 17.5 markers in his first six outings.

?I?m always satisfied when we play defense, [UST] shot 27 percent today, which is pretty good defense,? said Black.

It didn?t look that way, though early in the second half with Dylan Ababou and Khasim Mirza waxing hot to trim the Eagles? 10-point spread, 43-33, to just 49-45 at the end of the third quarter.

Mirza then scored seven of the Tigers? first nine points in the fourth period for a 54-51 UST advantage.

But the Eagles stepped up at the defensive end and pulled ahead at 64-54, before a Francis Allera triple ended the Tigers? scoring drought with only 5.9 seconds left.

?We decided to play Jervy straight up, we didn?t want to double team him,? said Black. ?What we really wanted to do was shut down their shooters. We felt that guys like (Clark) Bautista and (Jeric) Fortuna were getting a lot of wide open shoots because of the double-teaming against Jervy. We tried to take away their perimeter game.?

FEU?s loss came a day after the departure of rookie big man Robert Kave.

Kave, who was with Mac Baracael when his teammate was shot from behind in a brazen shooting incident, decided to return to Papua New Guinea due to trauma.

The scores:

First Game
NU 69?Ponferrada 16, Jahnke 15, Asoro 14, Aguilar 12, Fabula 3, Garcia 3, Tungcul 2, Baloran 2, Catamora 2, Dela Cruz 0, Berry 0, Galapon 0, Luy 0.
FEU 61?Fernandez 12, Knuttel 11, Cervantes 8, Cawaling 8, Barroca 8, Ramos 6, Adolfo 4, Tanuan 2, Sanga 2, Macazo 0, Alisbo 0, Cabagnot 0.
Quarters: 12-18, 32-36, 52-51, 69-61

Second Game
ATENEO 64?Al-Hussaini 17, Tiu 14, Buenafe 12, Reyes 10, Salamat 3, Baldos 2, Nkemakolam 2, Baclao 2, Salva 1, Long 1, Austria 0, Escueta 0.
UST 57?Ababou 15, Allera 13, Mirza 8, Cruz 8, Fortuna 6, Bautista 3, Camus 2, Canlas 2, Fenequito 0, Gile 0, Taylor 0.
Quarters: 13-12, 29-25, 49-45, 64-57