Ateneo blows out UP in Battle of Katipunan

The Ateneo de Manila Blue Eagles bucked a slow first quarter showing to rout the University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons with a commanding 77-57 win at the Smart Araneta Coliseum Saturday afternoon.

The first quarter saw the Maroons ahead by 2 at the end of 10 minutes with former Blue Eaglet Mike Gamboa taking over for UP. Gamboa had 8 points in the opening canto but the Eagles found an answer to him on defense and held him scoreless the rest of the game. Greg Slaughter, Kiefer Ravena, and spitfire Emman Monfort combined for 13 of Ateneo’s total 23 points in the second quarter. Tonino Gonzaga also scored all of his 6 points in the second and helped a great deal on defense as Ateneo limited UP to only 10 points. Ravena scored at the buzzer to give the Blue Eagles a 42-31 lead at halftime.

Slaughter began the third quarter with a block on UP center Ifeanyi Mbah. Back to back buckets from Nico Salva and a breakaway layup from Monfort extended the lead to 16, 50-34. A booming triple from Kirk Long at the halfway mark of the third put Ateneo ahead by 18. At the end of 30 minutes of play, the Blue Eagles were up by a comfortable 14-point margin, 57-43.

The first five of Ateneo dominated the final quarter combining for all of the Eagles’ 20 points. Ateneo was ahead by 13 at the 5:00 mark but a Carlo Gomez trey followed by a fastbreak play from Jelo Montecastro cut the deficit to just 8 for the Maroons. Ateneo would later find an answer with a three from Long coupled with a jumper from the elbow by Nico Salva to balloon the Ateneo lead back to 13 with less than four minutes left to play.

A pair of technical fouls called on UP moments later would only make matters worse for the Fighting Maroons who only have one win under their belt so far in Season 74. UP Head Coach Ricky Dandan was booked for resentment to a non-call with 2:48 to go and just a few seconds after, forward Carlo Gomez was caught throwing a punch on Salva. Gomez was thrown out and will most likely miss the Maroons’ next game.

Ateneo would not let up for the remainder of the match with JP Erram blocking Montecastro emphatically with 1:47 left and Ravena sinking a three of his own with just a little over a minute remaining on the clock to seal Ateneo’s fifth straight win in as many games this season.

Coach Norman Black’s starting unit once again came to play scoring all but 11 of Ateneo’s offensive total. The Blue Eagles’ rookie duo of Ravena and Slaughter continued to show their brilliance on both ends of the court. Ravena led all scorers with 15 points and added 3 rebounds, 4 assists, and 4 steals. Slaughter delivered another double-double performance finishing the game with 14 points, 13 rebounds, an assist, and 2 blocked shots.

Co-captain Kirk Long had 14 points, going 2 for 2 from beyond the arc. Ateneo shot 60% from the outside, which was a welcome improvement for Coach Norman Black after their dismal 3-point shooting last outing. Monfort had 13 points, 4 boards, and 4 assists while Nico Salva was the only other Blue Eagle to score in double figures with 10.

After the game, fifth-year player Kirk Long attributed the win to the hard work the team has been putting in to defend the crown. Coach Norman Black credited the former Faith Academy Vanguard for his defense. “Kirk is a veteran. He’s had the same role he’s had for the last five years which is to guard the best offensive man on the other team and he does a really good job.”

On the apparent lack of scoring coming from the bench, Coach Norman added, “I’m always concerned about everything and that’s one of my concerns. I’ll make some adjustments but right now I’m just trying to have confidence in them and give them a chance to really gel together.”

The Blue Eagles’ next assignment will be the University of Santo Tomas. They will face the Growling Tigers on August 4, Thursday, 3 PM at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

SCORES:
ATENEO (77)- Ravena 15, Slaughter 14, Long 14, Monfort 13, Salva 10, Gonzaga 6, Golla 2, Chua 2, Tiongson 1, Pessumal 0, Cipriano 1, Capacio 0, Erram 0, Sumalinog 0, Austria 0

UP (57)- Silungan 8, Manuel 8, Gamboa 8, Mbah 7, Maniego 7, Romero 6, Montecastro 6, Gomez 5, Pascual 2, Wierzba 0, Fortu 0, Juruena 0

QUARTER SCORING: 19-21, 42-31, 57-43, 77-57

Written by Mikko Abello