Blue Eagles escape Warriors’ late rally for 10th Win

The Ateneo de Manila Blue Eagles escaped a late rally by the University of the East Red Warriors for a 74-70 win, Thursday afternoon at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. The Blue Eagles remain undefeated while the Red Warriors drop to last place together with the Fighting Maroons. The Blue Eagles depended on their starters, led by player of the game, Emman Monfort, who had 13 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists. Rookie center Greg Slaughter had a huge comeback with 19 points.

Kiefer Ravena started off the game for the Blue Eagles with an early bucket. Greg Slaughter took over and scored the next 6 points for the team. The last being an alley-oop jam from Niko Salva at the 5:38 mark to energize the crowd. Defense reigned as both teams missed their shots and committed turnovers. A late 3 by Warrior JR Sumido ended the quarter and gave UE the lead, 15-17.

Coach Norman Black let second stringers, Bacon Austria, Justin Chua, Frank Golla and Tonino Gonzaga, with Ravena, start the second canto. Gonzaga quickly dropped two baskets to give Ateneo the lead early in the quarter. Austria, after completing an and-1 play, brought the lead up to 5. UE answered right back and was able to regain the lead thanks to John Noble’s trey at the 5:53 mark. The game remained close as both teams were hitting their shots. Monfort hit his only 3 point shot at the 1 minute mark but was answered by veteran Paul Zamar with his own 3 pointer. A turnover by the Blue Eagles with less than a minute left, led to a Chris Javier that brought the UE lead up to 4, 33-37. Salva tried to cut the lead but missed the last shot of the half. Halftime score was 33-37 for the UE Red Warriors.

After a tight first half, Coach Norman Black relied on his starters to get back in the game. The Blue Eagles dominated the 3rd quarter and outscored UE, 23-12. Consecutive baskets by Ravena and Monfort started things off and tied the game at 37 in less than a minute. Ravena quickly took over for the Blue Eagles by completing back-to-back steals and buckets which gave Ateneo the lead, 41-37. UE’s defense held the Blue Eagles without a field goal for 3 minutes until Team Captain Kirk Long drained a trey at the 4:05 mark. Noble’s shot from the perimeter at the 2:25 mark would be the last field goal for the Red Warriors in the period. Golla’s basket with 14.4 seconds left ended the quarter with a 56-49 score in favor of the Blue Eagles.

Golla, Chua, Austria and Gonzaga together with Long started the last 10 minutes of the game.The final canto of the game was a thrilling one as it started with a questionable turnover call on Kirk Long. Coach Norman Black and Long were given warnings. Chua drained a jumper to increase the lead of the Blue Eagles to 7, 58-51. Things heated up at the 8:29 mark after an altercation between Kirk Long and Lord Casajeros which led to an unsportsmanlike foul on Long and a foul on Casajeros. The Red Warriors weren’t able to capitalize on the foul as Casajeros dropped one of his free throws and the team failed to create a basket. In less than 30 seconds, another unsportsmanlike foul was called, this time on Casajeros against Chua. Chua missed both free throws but was able to score on the possession to give Ateneo a 6 point lead, 60-54. Three straight fouls by Sumang put the UE Red Warriors in the penalty still with 5:54 left in the game. Gonzaga and Slaughter split their charities after being fould by UE. An Austria foul gave UE a chance to get back at the game with Enguino hitting both free throws. But an Enguino foul allowed Monfort to easily score at the charity stripe to get the lead back to 6. The lead remained at 6 until Ravena scored at the 1:50 mark, 70-62.

Coming from a UE timeout, Noble was left open and hit a huge 3 at the 39.7 mark to cut the lead to 5. This was followed by a costly turnover by the Blue Eagles that allowed the Warriors to bring down the lead to 2 points. But Monfort’s freethrows and Ateneo’s suffocating defense in the last seconds of the game prevented the UE Red Warriors from forcing the game into overtime.

The Ateneo Blue Eagles will face rivals De LaSalle Green Archers this coming Sunday, August 28, to go for their 11th win in UAAP Season 74.

Written by Althea Lapus