Sweet revenge for Blue Eagles

By Jonas Terrado - Manila Bulletin - August 10, 2008

Ateneo survived a late rally by Far Eastern University to eke out a vengeful 78-74 win and remain on top in the 71st UAAP basketball tournament at the PhilSports Arena.

The Blue Eagles pulled away in the second half with a huge 15-point cushion before warding off a late rally by the Tamaraws down the stretch to improve their win-loss record to 7-1.

"We really concentrated on our defensive rebounds because we gave FEU a lot of offensive rebounds," said Ateneo coach Norman Black. "They made a rally but luckily we have enough energy to hang on and get the win."

In the first game, University of Santo Tomas rode on the heroics of Jervy Cruz to open its second round assignments with a 97-83 victory over the struggling Adamson University.

Cruz, the reigning Most Valuable Player and the top player in the statistical points race after the first round, scored 29 points and grabbed 15 rebounds as he led four Tigers in double figures.

Eric Salamat, who dislocated his jaw in their victory against UST last Sunday, had a strong game off the bench for Ateneo with 18 points as he hit of 4-of-5 from way beyond the arc.

Chris Tiu and Rabeh Al-Hussaini contributed 16 points each while rookie sensation Ryan Buenafe chipped in 10 markers.

Salamat, a former San Sebastian Staglet, hit 10 points in a huge 15-3 blast bridging the third and fourth periods as Ateneo grabbed a commanding 67-52 lead with 8:10 left in the game.

But FEU made a huge run towards the end as Benedict Fernandez and Mark Barroca joined forces to cut Ateneo’s lead down to just two, 76-74, with 1:03 remaining.

However, Al-Hussaini scored off Riel Cervantes at the post with 51.9 ticks to go to seal the final score.

Cervantes led the Tamaraws with 14 points and six rebounds as they dropped their second straight game to fall to 5-3. Paul Sanga and Fernandez made 13 and 11 points apiece.

Ateneo erased a 27-19 deficit to take a 36-33 halftime margin off a triple by Jai Reyes at the buzzer.

The victory allowed UST to tie University of the East in the fourth spot with similar 4-4 win-loss record.

Mark Canlas chipped in 13 points and 10 rebounds while Clark Bautista had another sterling performance with 12 points on 4-for-8 shooting from the three-point area.

"Dalawa lang naman sinabi ko sa mga bata, desire tapos yung commitment. Talagang dapat every game ibigay nila lahat, kapag meron yung tingin ko matibay kami kaya from the start pa lang aggressive kami," UST mentor Pido Jarencio said .

Meanwhile, defending champion De La Salle-Zobel stretched its unbeaten streak in juniors hostilities by defeating UST, 65-56, at the Blue Eagle gym.

Nico Elorde and Luis dela Paz led the Bengals with 14 and 13 points, respectively, while Matthew Capacio tallied 12 points and eight rebounds as DLSZ extended its win run to 8.

In the other juniors’ contest, National University defeated winless UPIS, 75-69, to improve to a 3-5 slate while handing the Pages their eighth straight setback.

UST took its biggest lead of the game at 20 points, 32-12, during the second quarter.

Cruz hit 12 markers in the first half to help the Tigers grab the comfortable 44-29 halftime lead.
But the Falcons slowly trimmed down the lead to five, 49-44, as Jerick Canada hit a fastbreak layup with 6:14 to go in the third frame.

The Espana-based dribblers, however, countered with an 11-3 run which was capped by Bautista’s triple to push the Falcons back in a shouting distance, 60-47, with 3:52 left.

While Adamson pulled closer at the end of the third, 70-61, the Tigers sealed the win as Cruz scored 11 points while Canlas tallied six markers in that final canto.

Big man Jan Colina and Paul Gonzalgo led the chare with 20 points apiece while Canada produced 15 points, eight rebounds, and nine assists for the Falcons who dropped to 2-4 to join host University of the Philippines and National University at the cellar.

UST point guard Japs Cuan played his first game since suffering a torn meniscus and made two points in eight minutes.