Ateneo takes win #11, claws rival La Salle

Age-old rivals Ateneo de Manila University and De La Salle University met once again Sunday afternoon for their second round encounter which ended in a lopsided victory for the Blue and White, 79-62. Despite playing more than half the game without 7-foot center Greg Slaughter who got into foul trouble early on, the Blue Eagles carved out an impressive win that had non-starters Justin Chua and Tonino Gonzaga step up and contribute big plays to help Ateneo’s cause in front of a dominantly blue crowd at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The top of the first quarter saw an aggressive Greg Slaughter start out strong with a huge block on DLSU rookie big man Arnold Van Opstal which led to a Kirk Long layup on the other end for the first basket of the ballgame. An LA Revilla strip of Kirk Long at halfcourt gave way to a fastbreak layup followed by a basket by Maui Villanueva which put La Salle up by 2 after two minutes and a half of play. Simon Atkins split his charities at the 7:00 mark after bring fouled by Greg Slaughter, which gave La Salle its biggest lead of the game at 3 but a pair of freethrows by Emman Monfort a few minutes later would put Ateneo up by 1 and there was no more looking back from there.

Slaughter, however, collected his second personal foul with just 6:16 left in the first quarter which forced Coach Norman Black to keep him on the bench the rest of the first half. With under 4 minutes left, Long forced a turnover which resulted in a Kiefer Ravena basket. A minute later, a layup by Long in transition put Ateneo up, 10-5. Luigi Dela Paz would answer back with a shot from beyond the arc with 1:34 left in the first but a Ravena patent pullup jumper with less than a minute remaining extended the Ateneo lead to 5.

Tonino Gonzaga opened Ateneo’s second quarter campaign with two big baskets, attacking DLSU’s interior defense, building an 18-13 lead. At the 7:13 mark, DLSU guard Jarelan Tampus converted a three-point play off a JP Erram foul that put DLSU within 2 but Erram would quickly make up for it with a drop pass to Nico Salva who finished with an undergoal stab to stretch the lead back to 4. Plays orchestrated by veteran guard LA Revilla and baskets by Tampus who had 7 points in the second quarter kept the game within reach. Simon Atkins sank a three with 2:23 before halftime to once again cut the Ateneo lead to 2 at 28-26 but Kiefer would fire back with a jumper from the baseline. Justin Chua split his charities right before the break that gave Ateneo a 31-26 advantage as both teams headed to the dugout.

Ateneo did not let up in the second half led by veteran forward Nico Salva who had 13 of his game-high 19 points in the last two quarters. Salva was not without help as the Blue Eagles played unselfish basketball which has been relatively characteristic of the team’s system this season. Such was seen at the 5:43 mark when Monfort forced a DLSU turnover, brought the ball down, dished off to Kirk Long who then hit an open Salva in the paint with a pretty touch pass for the easy bucket and a 40-29 lead. With 3:15 left in the third, Tonino Gonzaga hit a big three that extended the lead to 13. The quarter ended with Ateneo ahead, 53-42.

DLSU tried to make one final push in the fourth quarter starting off strong with guard Almond Vosotros making 4 points in the first minute but Gonzaga would silence the La Salle crowd with another booming triple that put Ateneo ahead by 10. A barreling drive by a fired-up Gonzaga moments later would send the Ateneo faithful up on their feet and DLSU to a much-needed timeout. Halfway into the quarter, Kiefer Ravena came away with a big offensive board and a putback over a much bigger Norbert Torres for the 68-52 advantage. Monfort would hit a three of his own with 1:52 left to play that blew up the lead to 20. With 1:21 remaining, a completed and1 play by Salva had Ateneo ahead by 21. Vosotros hit a shot from outside with 19 seconds left on the clock but it was way too late at that point.

Salva led the way with his 19 points along with 3 rebounds, and a block. Ravena continued his phenomenal un-rookie-like performance with 13 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 assists. Monfort also had 13 on the board, 8 coming from spotless shooting from the line, along with 7 rebounds, 6 assists, and 2 steals. The only other Blue Eagle who finished the game scoring in double digits was Tonino Gonzaga who came off the bench with 12 points, 6 coming from 2/2 shooting from downtown, together with 4 boards, 3 assists, and 2 steals. More importantly, the former Blue Eaglet and Glory B Team standout provided the intensity that his teammates and the crowd fed off.

Asked about Gonzaga’s performance, Coach Norman said, “He’s been very consistent coming off the bench. He’s probably been our best bench player so far this year and he comes off and gives us energy every single game and there’s no question he’s going to bring some energy on to the basketball court so tonight was a very good offensive night for him. He was able to come in and make some shots, get some drives to the basket and he always plays good defense so i was very happy for him.”

Arnold Van Opstal scored 13 for De La Salle while Vosotros and Tampus each had 9 apiece.

The win today stretched Ateneo’s streak in the eliminations to eleven, just three games shy of a clean sweep and an outright seat in the finals with a thrice-to-beat advantage. However, before the brooms come out, Coach Norman has reminded his boys to take it one game at a time. “I think it’s important for the players just to focus in on what’s next”, he says. “We’ve talked about it this week just so that we could get it out in the open and stop whispering about it and we decided that we’ll just take it one game at a time but if we do get it to the top two in the sweep then we’ll go for it but at this point we’ll just concentrate on UP. Try to get our 12th win then after that i think we play NU.”

The Blue Eagles will return to the court on Thursday as they go up against neighbors UP Fighting Maroons for Battle of Katipunan Part Deux.

SCORES:
ATENEO (79)- Salva 19, Ravena 13, Monfort 13, Gonzaga 12, Slaughter 8, Chua 7, Long 6, Tiongson 1, Erram 0, Sumalinog 0, Golla 0, Austria 0

DLSU (62)- Van Opstal 13, Vosotros 9, Tampus 9, Torres 8, Revilla 6, Villanueva 6, Atkins 4, Dela Paz 3, Paredes 2, Webb 2, Gotladera 0, Mendoza 0, Marata 0

Written by Mikko Abello