Photo by August dela Cruz
MANILA—As expected, Ateneo cleared another road block—and how—in its determined march to a title sweep in the UAAP Saturday.
Playing with their usual unforgiving defense, the Blue Eagles held the National University Bulldogs to their lowest output ever in a 61-39 rout that moved Ateneo to within a win of an elimination sweep and three more from a rare unbeaten championship run in men’s basketball at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
“Now we’ll definitely go for it, no question,” said Ateneo coach Norman Black of the Eagles’ bid to become the first team to capture a fourth straight championship by winning 16 games in a row.
“I guess we can’t avoid that now. That’s something worth striving for.”
The Eagles shoot for a 14-game romp in the eliminations on Saturday against the Adamson Falcons, who blew a 17-point lead and lost to the University of Santo Tomas Tigers, 74-58, in the second game.
Another win will give Ateneo the first berth in the Finals where the Eagles will enjoy a thrice-to-beat advantage against the other title qualifier.
The Falcons took the half against the Tigers at 42-27 then mysteriously lost their firepower in the second half and allowed UST to fortify its Final Four chances.
Jeric Fortuna and Jeric Teng fueled the Tigers’ scorching third-quarter blitz, hitting three-pointers one after another to give UST the lead for good at 48-45.
The Tigers, whose coach Pido Jarencio will turn 47 tomorrow, improved to 7-5 and need just one more victory to assure a spot in the semifinals. Or, UST could also nail a Final Four slot if La Salle drops one of its last three assignments.
The Falcons stayed at second place with 9-4 record, while NU bowed out of the season with a 4-8 card.
“At least now we control our fate,” said Jarencio, whose charges won their third straight game.
La Salle plays the first of its do-or-die matches against University of the Philippines.
The last time a team completed a title sweep was in 1993, when University of Santo Tomas strung up 14 straight wins for the crown.
The league then changed the format by adding a Final Four after the eliminations and rewarding a team going unbeaten in the eliminations with an automatic title berth and a twice-to-beat edge in the playoffs.
When University of the East swept the eliminations in 2007 only to yield the title to La Salle, the league again amended its rules and gave an unbeaten team a thrice-to-beat incentive in the finals.
The incentive means the finalists will play a virtual best-of-5 but with Ateneo going into the championship series with an automatic 1-0 edge.
“We just want to raise the level of our game and get ourselves ready for the playoffs,” said Black, also a PBA grand slam mentor for San Miguel Beer in 1989.
“We decided to do a good defensive job and let the offense take care of itself.”
The Eagles limited the Bulldogs to eight points in the third period and 20 for the second half, leaving NU a point off its worst losing total in a 60-40 whipping from La Salle during the 2004 season.
The Falcons also scored just eight points in the last quarter against the Tigers and had 26 overall for the final half.
The scores:
First Game
ATENEO 61—Salva 14, Slaughter 13, Ravena 12, Long 10, Gonzaga 6, Golla 4, Monfort 2, Tiongson 0, Sumalinog 0, Chua 0, Austria 0.
NU 39—Parks 10, Moe 10, Javillonar 9, Alolino 4, Ignacio 4, Neypes 2, Villamor 0, Rono 0, Celiz 0, Khobuntin 0, Terso 0.
Quarters: 12-11, 26-19, 48-27, 61-39.
Second Game
UST 74—Teng 20, Abdul 15, Fortuna 15, Camus 13, Lo 6, Ferrer 5, Tan 0, Sheriff 0, Lao 0, Ungria 0.
ADAMSON 58—Nuyles 14, Brondial 9, Camson 8, Etrone 6, Lozada 6, Alvarez 6, Cabrera 5, Colina 4, Petilos 0, Manuel 0, Manyara 0.
Quarters: 12-20, 27-42, 52-50, 74-58