Adamson busts Ateneo’s sweep bid, snaps a 29-game losing streak

Emman Monfort of Ateneo (R) is entangled with Jerrick Canada of Adamson (L) as they try to make a grab for the ball in the second game of a double-header Saturday, Sept. 10, 2011, in the 74th season of the UAAP men’s basketball tournament at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City. The Falcons snapped the Eagles bid for a sweep of the two-round eliminations and an outright finals’ berth with a stunning 62-46 win, the first against the three-time champions since 1997. AUGUST DELA CRUZ/Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines – After 30 straight tries, Adamson finally found a way to beat Ateneo.

The Adamson Falcons snapped a losing skid dating back to more than a decade ago and busted the Ateneo Blue Eagles’ bid for a sweep with a stunning 62-46 triumph Thursday in the 74^th UAAP men’s basketball tournament.

The Falcons, who also clinched the other twice-to-beat edge, overpowered the Blue Eagles from the beginning, proving to everyone that they finally have the right stuff to compete.

“The most important thing is they will believe our team is capable of winning a championship,” said Adamson coach Leo Austria, whose squad last won against Ateneo was in Sept. 18, 1997.

“Since I came here in 2006, we’ve never won against Ateneo. We just kept on practicing and I told coach Leo [Austria] that today might be the day [that we finally beat them],” said star forward Alex Nuyles, who dazzled everyone with his arsenal of spellbinding moves.

Nuyles, who broke into tears shortly after their 10^th victory, banged in a total of 21 points and plucked seven rebounds but it was his part in Adamson’s unrelenting defense which mostly stood out.

The Falcons, whose victory preserved the final four format and will face either University of Santo Tomas or Far Eastern University, strangled the Blue Eagles with their defense all game long and forced the three-time champions to their lowest output at seven points in a quarter this season.

Nuyles also helped limit Ateneo’s most prolific scorers – Kiefer Ravena and Greg Slaughter – to just a point in the entire third period where Adamson pulled away for good buoyed, by Nuyles’ 13 point-contribution.

And a booming trey again by Nuyles capped the 11-0 spurt to conclude the third quarter, before a slam by Kenyan reinforcement Austin Manyara gave the Falcons their biggest lead, 52-32, with over eight minutes to play.

Senior playmaker Lester Alvarez added 14 points and six rebounds for Adamson, which shot impeccably from the stripe by making all of its 19 attempts.

Usually capable of exploding any time, Ateneo just couldn’t get its bearings together by scoring just eight points in the first quarter before setting another season-low in the third.

Slaughter, leading the race for the MVP, only had 10 points and just took four trips to the line while Ravena came up with just nine points.

“Our defense was bad. We struggled,” said Ateneo mentor Norman Black.

The Blue Eagles, who couldn’t trim the lead lower than 13 points, 56-43, still hold the top spot with a 13-1 card and a twice-to-beat advantage in tow despite missing the chance of an outright finals berth.

Originally posted at 5:33 p.m.