Eagles forge FilOil finals battle vs Lions

Photo by August dela Cruz

MANILA—With rookie Greg Slaughter hitting his groove, Ateneo snapped Far Eastern University’s perfect run with an 82-74 triumph yesterday that propelled the Blue Eagles to the FilOil-Flying V Hanes Preseason Premier Cup championship.

The Blue Eagles—who advanced to the Finals of the premier summer tournament for the first time—arranged a showdown of champions after NCAA titlist San Beda also tripped Adamson, 82-78, in the other semifinal match at the FilOil-Flying V Arena in San Juan.

Slaughter, towering over everyone at 6-foot-11, helped arrest a late FEU comeback to finish with a game-high 24 points and 14 rebounds.

“The more Greg gets comfortable with our system, the better we’re going to play,” Ateneo coach Norman Black said of the Smart Gilas mainstay.

“I think [the loss] against La Salle did us good. We played much better tonight and Slaughter also played much better.”

The guards also came through with Emman Monfort delivering 15 points and six assists and Kirk Long adding 11 markers for the Eagles, the three-time champions who also ran over the Tamaraws in last season’s UAAP Finals.

Ola Adeogun towed San Beda out of a tight duel in the closing minutes to lead the Lions back to the Finals since finishing as a runner-up to the University of the East in 2008.

Stepping up for injured star Sudan Daniel, the Nigerian Adeogun poured in all the points in an 8-0 run that gave the Red Lions a 79-72 advantage with just 34.1 seconds remaining.

The scores:
First Game
SAN BEDA 82—Lanete 15, Adeogun 15, Villahermosa 11, Pontejos 9, Marcelo 8, Pascual J. 8, Caram 8, Lim 3, Pascual K. 3, Semerad D. 2, Dela Rosa 0.
ADAMSON 78—Alvarez 20, Colina 16, Camson 14, Nuyles 12, Cañada 9, Etrone 3, Manyara 2, Brondial 2, Cruz 0, Cabrera 0, Olalia 0.
Quarters: 28-26, 45-47, 59-59, 82-78
Second Game
ATENEO 82—Slaughter 24, Monfort 15, Long 11, Ravena 9, Salva 8, Chua 6, Sumalinog 5, Golla 2, Erram 2, Austria 0, Gonzaga 0.
FEU 74—Garcia 15, Ramos 15, Cawaling 11, Romeo 11, Exciminiano 7, Noundou 6, Escoto 6, Bringas 2, Knuttel 1, Sentcheu 0, Tolomia 0, Cruz 0.
Quarters: 22-18, 43-35, 63-52, 82-74