Here we go! Tams, Eagles begin UAAP championship showdown

MANILA—With both claiming they are hungrier than the other, Far Eastern University and defending champion Ateneo start Saturday what many expect to be a super intense best-of-three series for the UAAP men’s basketball title.   Game time is 4:20 p.m. before an expected sellout crowd at the Araneta Coliseum.   Although the Blue Eagles have yet to beat the Tamaraws this season, both teams still expect a series that just might go the distance.   “They’re motivated to get that three-peat, but the positive side for us is we’re hungrier,” said coach Glenn Capacio of the Tamaraws, who dominated the eliminations in their quest for a record 20th overall crown.   “We’re just as hungry as they are,” said Ateneo coach Norman Black. “They (Tamaraws) have been first place from the very beginning. We’ve just been hanging around and waiting for our chance. Now our chance is here.”   FEU, also the top seed in the women’s division, similarly starts its quest for a title against another defending champion in Adamson.   The Lady Tamaraws and the Lady Falcons, who split their elimination meetings, battle in Game 1 of a best-of-three title duel at 11 a.m.   Capacio said both FEU and Ateneo will be starting from scratch, with the Eagles actually enjoying an edge because of its championship experience.   “Even though we beat them twice, it was just the breaks of the game in the last two minutes [that won it for us],” said Capacio, whose Tamaraws nipped the Eagles by a total margin of five points in two games.   “It’s the Finals, so it’s back to zero. Their advantage is their championship experience, that’s a big factor.”   Black said the Eagles will have to come up with a consistent defense to handle FEU’s talent-laden roster led by league MVP RR Garcia, top rookie Terrence Romeo and veteran big men Aldrech Ramos and Reil Cervantes.   “What we’ll try to do is concentrate on what we do best, which is to play good defense,” said Black. “We don’t really have to have very good offensive players, as long as the players give the effort defensively.”   The Eagles are aiming to string up a third straight championship behind the leadership of Eric Salamat, Ryan Buenafe, Kirk Long, Nico Salva and Emman Monfort.   “For me, Salamat and Buenafe are the barometer of Ateneo,” said Capacio. “If we stop Salamat and Buenafe, we’re successful with about 75 percent of our game plan.”   Said Black: “Our big men have to play better if we’re going to beat them, that’s really the strength of their team.   “I know they have good guards in Garcia and Romeo, but at the same time, those big guys make a big difference in their team. They’re very difficult to stop. They have the offensive skills to attack you.”   The Eagles will miss the services of back-up center Jumbo Escueta, who is serving a one-game suspension after incurring his second unsportsmanlike foul.   “Our strength is we’re very balanced,” said Black. “We don’t really know who’s going to be the top scorer from game to game. But that can also be a weakness going into the end game because we don’t really have a go-to guy.”
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