Blue Eagles arrange duel against Stags
MANILA, Philippines — In this showdown of varsity champions, Ateneo just had more arsenal to show.
The super trio of Greg Slaughter, Kiefer Ravena and Nico Salva got to work early as the Blue Eagles dismantled San Beda, 76-63, to claim the last title berth in the Philippine Collegiate Champions League Friday at the FilOil-Flying V Arena.
“We played well for 40 minutes which was really the key,” said coach Norman Black after his Eagles booked their fifth straight Finals stint in the nationwide tournament.
Article continues after this advertisement“But it was not really pretty, particularly in the end game, when we made a lot of turnovers.”
By then, however, the Eagles held a comfortable 68-55 lead going into the final four minutes after leading by as much as 16 points, 47-31, over the back-to-back NCAA champion Lions.
The seven-foot Slaughter had his way often for a team-high 20 points and eight rebounds in the knockout duel.
Article continues after this advertisementRavena pumped in 18 markers on top of three boards and four assists and Salva also had 17 points and eight rebounds to help the four-time UAAP champions keep the Lions at bay.
“Our defense held up, which was something we did not have against San Sebastian,” said Black of the Eagles, whose only loss in the round-robin semifinals came against the Stags, 70-69, last Tuesday.
The Eagles, however, need to hurdle the Stags twice in the championship round to claim their third straight title.
Although Ateneo and San Sebastian wound up tied at 2-1 in the semifinals, the Stags nailed the
No. 1 spot, which comes with a twice-to-beat Finals advantage, due to the winner-over-the-other rule.
The Stags will vie to become the first NCAA team to claim the tournament crown on Monday at 4 p.m. also in San Juan.
San Beda and University of Cebu, tied at 1-2, will dispute the third spot at 2 p.m.
In a benefit game earlier, the San Beda Red Cubs ripped the National University Bullpups, 92-67, in a battle of junior champions.
NCAA juniors finals MVP Francis Abarcar topscored with 29 points.
The scores:
ATENEO 76—Slaughter 20, Ravena 18, Salva 17, Chua 6, Gonzaga 5, Austria 4, Long 4, Tiongson 2, Golla 0, Pessumal 0, Capacio 0, Erram 0.
SAN BEDA 63—Villahermosa 21, Dela Rosa 14, Marcelo 7, Pascual 6, Amer 6, Lim 5, Caram 4, Solera 0, Koga 0, Pontejos 0.
Quarters: 23-19, 37-28, 55-44, 76-63
