Blue Eagles seek share of second vs Maroons

MANILA, Philippines—Norman Black banked heavily on his backcourt aces in recent games. Now the Ateneo coach expects his big men to click when the Blue Eagles kick off their second-round campaign Saturday in the UAAP men’s basketball tournament.   The back-to-back champion Eagles, who wrapped up the first round with a 5-2 record, target a share of second versus the University of the Philippines Maroons at 2 p.m. at the Araneta Coliseum.   “We’re in a pretty good position right now,” said Black. “But I’ll probably develop our big men a bit more in the second round. Hopefully, they can contribute a bit more offensively and defensively.”   La Salle, running fourth with a 4-3 slate, tries to avenge its first-round defeat to unpredictable National University at 4 p.m.   Idle Far Eastern University kept the top spot at 7-1 even after the Tamaraws absorbed their first setback last Thursday against the Adamson Falcons, who grabbed solo second at 6-2.   “We still need to work on many things,” said coach Eric Gonzales, whose Bulldogs tripped the Green Archers, 59-55, in their first encounter last July 15.   “We have to focus on the team’s discipline and do the things that we should do.”   National U finished the first round with a 3-4 card, punctuated by 70-66 victory over the Maroons on Aug. 7 where the Bulldogs rallied from 22 points down in the second half to prevail.   But for coach Boyet Fernandez, it was a heartbreaker the Maroons hope to build on.   “Hopefully, we can learn from it,” said Fernandez. “Everybody thinks we’re out right now, but they showed [in that game] what they can do on court. We’ll stick to our system.”   The Eagles routed the Maroons, 78-53, in their Aug. 5 encounter where State U’s highly touted rookie Mike Silungan was held to a personal-low five points.   Silungan, a 6-foot-3 Fil-Am shooter, led the Maroons in the first round with averages of 13.3 points. 4.6 rebounds and 2.3 assists.