Blue Eagles rip Growling Tigers, nail ninth straight
MANILA—An Ateneo squad claiming it has yet to reach its full potential dumped University of Santo Tomas, 82-57, for its ninth straight victory in the UAAP men’s basketball tournament Saturday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Blue Eagles held the sloppy Tigers to six points in the first quarter and the defending champions went on to lead by over 30 points twice to highlight their dominating show.
Nico Salva fueled the early assault and finished with 20 points and seven rebounds as the Eagles sustained their bid for an elimination sweep and an outright championship berth.
“The focus at the beginning of the game was to try to get a better flow on offense,” said Ateneo coach Norman Black.
“We’ve been starting off well defensively in our last few games, but our offense has been a little bit stagnant. Personally, I felt we were a little too much individualistic. Today, we wanted to get into the flow, we called a lot of team plays.”
The victory, which earned the Eagles at least a Final Four playoff, came a week after Black’s crew had its closest call before escaping with an overtime 74-67 win over Far Eastern University.
University of the East earlier pulled off an upset over a La Salle side struggling with a spate of injuries, posting a 74-69 decision in the first game.
The rebuilding Warriors took charge from the second period as the Archers lost their poise after center Yutien Andrada went down with a freak injury late in the first quarter.
Paul Zamar pumped in 19 points and John Noble had a career-high 16 markers, five rebounds and two blocks to lead the Warriors to their second win in nine games.
La Salle and UST dropped to a share of fourth with 4-5 records.
“I told the players not to be complacent,” said UE coach Jerry Codiñera. “We know La Salle is capable of a comeback and a 12- to 16-point [margin] is nothing in the UAAP.”
Andrada’s right knee buckled as he was driving to the basket at the 1:08 mark in the first quarter and the Archers up, 15-13.
Aside from Andrada, who never got back into the game, Luigi dela Paz also sat out almost the entire second half after sustaining a thigh injury.
La Salle’s latest casualties came after Simon Atkins (heads) and Joshua Webb (viral infection) missed last week’s outing while star guard LA Revilla had also been struggling due to a recurring illness.
But there’s no overlooking the Warriors’ tenacious effort as they held the Archers scoreless at the start of the fourth quarter to pull away by as many as 13 points, 65-52.
Senior guard Lucas Tagarda also had a career-best 11 rebounds going with four points and four assists for the Warriors.
Justin Chua shot 18 points for the Eagles, while rookie star Kiefer Ravena added 14 markers and half of Ateneo’s six steals.
The scores:
First Game
UE 74—Zamar 19, Noble 16, Sumang 7, Santos 7, Duran 7, Casajeros 6, Javier 4, Enguio 4, Tagarda 4, Sumido 0, Flores 0.
LA SALLE 69—Torres 12, Webb 11, Revilla 9, Vosotros 9, Marata 5, Van Opstal 4, Dela Paz 4, Tampus 2, Paredes 2, Villanueva 2, Mendoza 2, Andrada 2.
Quarters: 17-19, 39-35, 56-52, 74-69
Second Game
ATENEO 82—Salva 20, Chua 18, Ravena 14, Monfort 8, Long 7, Slaughter 6, Cipriano 3, Gonzaga 3, Sumalinog 2, Erram 1, Pessumal 0, Capacio 0, Estrada 0, Tiongson 0, Golla 0, Austria 0.
UST 57—Teng 20, Abdul 12, Afuang 10, Fortuna 7, Ferrer 4, Vigil 2, Lo 2, Tan 0, Sheriff 0, Pe 0, Ungria 0, Camus 0.
Quarters: 15-6, 25-16, 68-37, 82-57
