Slaughter leads Ateneo to win vs UP in FilOil Preseason Cup

MANILA, Philippines – Greg Slaughter notched a double-double to lead Ateneo to a 69-60 win over University of the Philippines Saturday in the 2012 FilOil Flying V Preseason Hanes Cup at the Arena in San Juan.

Slaughter finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds as the Blue Eagles upped their mark to 4-1.

“We’re looking at improving each game and I think we’re achieving that,” said Ateneo coach Sandy Arespacochaga. “We’re getting our running game going. It’s the most points we’ve scored and we did not give up that many points.”

Meanwhile, San Beda manhandled University of the East, 91-57.

Julius Armon shot a game-high 17 points for the Red Lions, who moved to within a win away from booking the first quarterfinals slot.

Ateneo, the tournament’s defending champion, also drew decent plays from Tonino Gonzaga and Juami Tiongson.

Gonzaga had 12 points, including a pair of free throws that gave the Eagles their biggest lead while Tiongson fired eight big points, six of which, came in two separate stretches that doused the Maroons’ rally.

Alvin Padilla opened up the final period with five unanswered to pull UP to within three, 50-53, before Tiongson’s timely triple at the 8:17 mark restored order.

“We did not expect a 20-point game, UP is a good team, they have bench depth, they’re deeper now,” said Arespacochaga.

Raul Soyud led UP with 16 points.