Blue Eagles soar over Tams; sweep first round of eliminations

The Ateneo de Manila Blue Eagles remained undefeated at the end of the first round of eliminations sweeping all of its first seven games concluding with Sunday’s 20-point win over the Far Eastern University Tamaraws, 69-49.

The game began with both squads playing nip and tuck basketball. Greg Slaughter started strong for the Blue Eagles scoring 5 of Ateneo’s first 7 points. Midway into the quarter, Kiefer Ravena pickpocketed FEU guard Chris Exciminiano before going coast to coast to put Ateneo ahead by 2. RR Garcia answered back with a baseline stab followed by a Terrence Romeo layup to give FEU their first taste of the lead, 11-9, with a little over 2 minutes to go. He would then go on a shootout from the perimeter with Ateneo big man Justin Chua who hit back to back jumpers to pace Ateneo. Tonino Gonzaga got an offensive rebound and hit a short stab to tie the game at 15-all after the first 10 minutes of play.

Tamaraw JR Cawaling reinjured his knee at the start of the second quarter after colliding with Ateneo veteran guard Bacon Austria and would not return to the game. Ateneo trailed for a while with their first basket of the quarter coming at the 6:37 via a freethrow from Ravena who split a pair of charities. Slaughter hit a jumper afterwards to cut the FEU lead to 1. At the 4:40 mark, a contested layup by Ravena knotted the score at 20-all and Nico Salva would provide the go-ahead basket in the succeeding play. With 2:58 left before halftime, Emman Monfort forced a turnover in the backcourt before firing a pass to Ravena on the other end who split the defense of FEU guards Romeo and Cris Tolomia for the basket plus a foul. A completed three-point play led to a 5-point lead, 25-20. Both teams headed to the dugout with Ateneo on top, 30-26.

The second half was dictated by Ateneo from the get-go with the Blue Eagles outscoring the Tamaraws 17-9 in the third quarter. Ateneo’s unselfishness with the ball was a huge factor. With 6:30 left, an FEU turnover at halfcourt forced by Kirk Long ended up with Monfort who eluded two defenders before dishing off to Ravena, touch-passing it to Slaughter for the converted and-1 play on FEU center Christian Sentcheu extending the lead to 39-30. Ateneo led by 12, 47-35 at the close of the third.

RR Garcia hit a booming triple for FEU to begin the fourth quarter. An attempted comeback bolstered by a Romeo jumper from the corner was quickly answered back by Austria with a three of his own with 7:07 left, giving Ateneo a 10-point cushion. Frustration led to a series of FEU technical fouls on Romeo, Russel Escoto, and head coach Bert Flores. Monfort went 3 of 4 from the stripe while Slaughter converted both his technical freethrows putting Ateneo ahead, 60-42. Long also hit two killer treys in the final quarter that helped put FEU away.

Although both teams had almost identical numbers in most of the statistical departments today such as rebounding and 2-point field goals, and with FEU closely matching Ateneo’s running game, Ateneo had the advantage from the stripe shooting 82.1 % on 23 of 28 freethrows. FEU on the other hand had fewer trips to the line going just 6 of 9.

Kiefer Ravena was a rebound shy of a double-double performance finishing the game with 19 points and 9 rebounds. Greg Slaughter had 15 points and 11 boards. Nico Salva and Kirk Long chipped in 10 and 9 respectively. Emman Monfort had 5 assists while Frank Golla had 2 blocks. RR Garcia was the lone Tam who scored in double digits with 15 points while Aldrech Ramos hauled down 18 boards.

The next game of the Eagles will be on Saturday, August 13. Their opponent will be finalized once all first round games have been played.

Written by: Mikko Abello

STATS OF THE GAME

BOX SCORES
ATENEO (69)- Ravena 19, Slaughter 15, Salva 10, Long 9, Gonzaga 4, Chua 4, Monfort 3, Sumalinog 2, Austria 2, Golla 1, Erram 0, Tiongson 0

FEU (49)- Garcia 15, Escoto 8, Romeo 8, Sentcheu 5, Ramos 5, Exciminiano 4, Tolomia 3, Cruz 1, Mendoza 0, Foronda 0, Knuttel 0