Archers, Eagles collide in finals

By Jonas Terrado - Manila Bulletin - September 15, 2008

Defending champion De La Salle and Ateneo arranged a dream title showdown by sending home separate opponents yesterday in the 71st UAAP Final Four at the Araneta Coliseum.

The top-seeded Blue Eagles, who finished the season with a 13-1 record, routed University of the East, 70-50, while the Archers outlasted Far Eastern University, 67-62.

La Salle and Ateneo, which will meet in the finals for the fourth time in UAAP history, start their best-of-three titular showdown on Sunday.

"There will be no secrets between us I guess, we know each other pretty well," said Ateneo coach Norman Black who steered his team to its seventh finals appearance since the school joined the league in 1979 while aiming for a fourth title in history.

"I think not only we’ll it be good for college basketball but also it will be good for Philippine basketball," said La Salle mentor Franz Pumaren.

Jai Reyes led Ateneo with 13 points 5-of-8 shooting, Nonoy Baclao made 12 points and nine rebounds and Eric Salamat added 11 points, six rebounds, four assists and four steals.

Ateneo pulled away in the second quarter behind Reyes and Salamat who combined for 19 points in the first half.

The Eagles took a commanding 56-28 fourth quarter lead with 8:09 remaining.

"Actually we didn’t expect it to turn out that way," Black added. "Just getting closer to the end, I think our concentration in this game and the next two will be focused on defense and try to limit the other teams as much as possible."

The Archers leaned on the heroics of James Mangahas to grab the first berth in the finals.

Mangahas scored his team’s last eight points, including the go-ahead three-point basket with 35.2 remaining as the Green Archers eliminated feisty Far Eastern University, 67-62.

The Archers, who entered the finals for 13th time in the last 15 seasons, are gunning for their seventh crown since joining the league in 1986.

"We really showed our championship poise down the stretch and I think our experience in playing the final four really helped us," said La Salle head coach Franz Pumaren. "The players just don’t want to lose, they don’t want to play another game."

With DLSU trailing 62-61, FEU’s Benedict Fernandez missed a turnaround shot off JV Casio. Rico Maierhofer, who grabbed the rebound, threw a pass to an open Mangahas who scored off Fernandez for the go-ahead basket.

After converting his bonus shot, FEU bungled on two foul shots of Mac Baracael and then Paul Sanga missed a long game-tying three-point attempt with less than six seconds to go that sealed the Archers’ victory.

In a tight contest that saw five deadlocks and three lead changes in the second half, the 21-year old former Philippine Christian University Baby Dolphin led DLSU with 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting together with eight rebounds in 30 minutes.

"JV (Casio) is usually covered, people will surround him but they forgot about James Mangahas," said Pumaren. "He has been playing terrible, we have talked to him and I’m happy he assumed the hero’s role in this ballgame."

JV Casio added 11 points, four rebounds and six assists while Rico Maierhofer fell two points shy of a double-double with eight points and 10 boards.

JR Cawaling scored 13 of his 18 points in the first half while Aldrech Ramos made 12 points, eight rebounds and six blocks as FEU, who made its first final four since winning the championship in 2005, ended its season on a sad note.

"I think we played a great series against FEU," said Pumaren. "Kudos to (FEU head coach) Glenn Capacio, they made it a difficult series for us if he could be given more free hand to coach maybe they can be a better team."