INQUIRER Sports

MANILA, Philippines - Ateneo needed only a week to reaffirm its mastery over fierce rival La Salle.

Looking every bit the dominant side, the Blue Eagles completed an eliminations sweep of the Green Archers in an 81-65 crushing yesterday to grab the solo lead in the UAAP men?s basketball tournament in front of an overflow crowd of 17,524 at the Araneta Coliseum.

It was a game the Eagles led all the way, prompting coach Norman Black to label it as Ateneo?s ?best game? so far this season.

?We played basketball the way that we wanted to play basketball the entire season,? Black said, exactly a week after the Eagles survived the Archers, 76-72, in overtime at the end of the first round.

?We got off to a good start defensively and we were able to get out and run tonight. We did a good job breaking their press, which I thought was very important because it led to a lot of easy baskets for us. Today was probably the best game we?ve played the entire UAAP season.?

And even La Salle coach Franz Pumaren agreed as his Green Archers, who dropped to 4-5, skidded to three straight losses for the first time since the multititled mentor took over in 1998.

?I think this is the best game they played; they shot pretty well,? said Pumaren. ?We were disorganized during the start, that?s why they shot pretty high.

?Some of the players didn?t rotate right. It?s hard to beat them if they shoot that way. It?s unfortunate that we played a bad game and they played a great game.?

Rabeh Al-Hussaini had his way too often and finished with 26 points, just four points shy of his season-best 30. The reigning Most Valuable Player also had three rebounds and three blocks.

Eric Salamat added 11 points and a season-best eight assists for the defending champions, who claimed the solo lead anew at 8-1.

In contrast, University of the East needed to lean on the clutch triple of Val Acuña to slip past Adamson, 60-56, in the first game.

The Warriors, who dropped two close matches against Ateneo and Far Eastern U last week, improved to third place at 5-4.

Elmer Espiritu came through at both ends to register a career-high 20 points on top of seven rebounds and a season-best six blocks for the Warriors.

The cold-shooting Archers just couldn?t break past the double-digit barrier in the second half as the Eagles coasted to the lead by as many as 21 points, 59-38.

It was also the first time the Archers? win-loss record fell to 50 percent under Pumaren.

The Eagles finished with a remarkable 50.8 percent shooting clip and a season-best 22 assists.

Pari Llagas returned to action for the Warriors with 10 points and 10 boards after serving a one-game suspension last Thursday.

?We came out very tight coming off a two-game losing streak,? said UE mentor Lawrence Chongson.?At halftime I reminded the players that we had to play with a lot smarts, not just all heart. We went to our veterans and they delivered today.?

The Falcons, who stunned the Archers, 61-55, three days earlier, fell to 2-7.

Acuña nailed his only three-pointer with 1:10 minutes left after missing his first six attempts. That pushed the Warriors ahead at 59-53 after Adamson veterans Lester Alvarez and Alex Nuyles kept pushing the Falcons within striking distance.

?[Acuña] has the license to shoot,? said Chongson, whose Warriors rallied from as many as 13 points down, 14-27, in the second quarter.

The Archers couldn?t get their shots to fall in the first four minutes, allowing the Eagles to take an early 8-0 lead.

Al-Hussaini accounted for six of Ateneo?s first 12 points as the Eagles claimed their first double-digit edge at 12-2.

Maui Villanueva helped La Salle pick up its offensive game late in the first quarter, but the Archers could only come as close to five, 20-15, in the first half.

The Eagles again extended the gap to 36-22 following a Salamat fastbreak off a steal from James Mangahas.

Firing at a remarkable 58.6 percent in the first half, the Eagles zoomed ahead by 17 points, 44-27, at the break.