Blue Eagles survive Tams in OT

Despite trailing for most of the game, Ateneo overcame a determined FEU squad by coming from behind to force overtime and survive the Tamaraws, 74-67. Undefeated in 8 games, the win kept the Blue Eagles’ campaign for a sweep in the eliminations and an outright spot in the finals alive. Rookies Kiefer Ravena and Greg Slaughter once again came up big for their team while Nico Salva played probably his best game this season thus far.

FEU’s RR Garcia hit a three early on to start the first quarter. Slaughter and Salva answered back with back to back baskets that game Ateneo the lead, 4-3, at the 7:06 mark. That would be the only time Ateneo would be in the lead for the rest of regulation. Shots from outside the arc connected from Tonino Gonzaga and Emman Monfort that trimmed the growing FEU lead but after the first ten minutes of play, the Tamaraws remained ahead, 21-13.

Another Garcia three came at the 8:00 mark of the succeeding canto which Kirk Long answered back with one of his own to put the Blue Eagles within 6, 18-24. The Tamaraws however turned up the intensity both on offense and defense with Garcia leading the charge, dropping 7 of his total 17 points in the second quarter. Tam Terrence Romeo nailed a three with 4:45 remaining to up the margin to 12. A spate of Ateneo errors extended the FEU lead to 36-20 with 2:41 left via 2 made freethrows by Aldrech Ramos. With 1:40 remaining before halftime, Garcia hit a backdoor-cutting Russel Escoto with an alleyoop pass for an emphatic dunk to further the FEU lead to 38-23.

Salva turned in an impressive 3rd quarter performance making 7 of his total game-high 18 points including a jumper from the top of the key at the 5:00 mark. Ravena would then hit a double clutch over two defenders and a three in succession to trim the deficit to 38-45 with 3:25 to go. The FEU lead was brought down to 5 at the close of the third, 42-47.

Ateneo would play catch-up basketball the entire fourth quarter, only to even the score in the final seconds of regulation. The Blue Eagles had several chances midway in the quarter to catch up and tie from the charity stripe but split freethrows from Justin Chua, Ravena, and Slaughter did not help their cause. A Salva basket with 3:20 to go put Ateneo within a point, 57-58, but Tamaraw Carl Cruz provided excellent offense and defense answering with one of his own then grabbing a defensive board thereafter. A jumpball was won by Ateneo with less than 2 minutes remaining but would fail to convert on offense. Garcia would make Ateneo pay by extending the lead to 6 with a booming triple from right quartercourt, 63-57. Monfort more than made up for the defensive lapse on Garcia by stealing the ball off a sideline inbound from Romeo and completing the fastbreak play with 57 seconds left in the quarter. Romeo would give up the ball again immediately after by stepping on the sideline allowing Ravena to score a quick basket with 45 seconds remaining to cut the FEU lead to just 2 points.

On the other end, a miss by Aldrech Ramos was picked up by Long and with just 8.8 ticks left on the clock, Ravena atacked FEU’s interior defense to tie the game at 63-all. A collaborative effort on defense would collapse on Cruz to prevent him from scoring in the dying seconds of regulation to force an extra five minutes of play.

In overtime, Slaughter led Ateneo’s charge scoring 4 of their 11 points and swatting away a couple FEU shot attempts. The early goings of extra time turned into an Ateneo block party with Slaughter and Salva sending the ball into the stands. With 3:07 to go, Long fumbled with the ball a bit before giving up the pass to a trailing Slaughter who gave Ateneo their first taste of the lead since the first quarter. Aldrech Ramos fouled out of the game after being called for a charge on Ravena, who made both freethrows, with 2:39 remaining. A Nico Salva bucket off an assist from Ravena upped the lead to 70-65. Romeo beat the shotclock to sink a layup with 56.5 left but a Greg Slaughter putback after a miss by Nico Salva killed any hopes of an FEU resurgence.

Nico Salva had a near double-double outing with an all-around performance logging in 18 points and 9 rebounds, 2 assists, and a block in 35 minutes of action. Kiefer Ravena had 15 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists. Greg Slaughter came up with another double-double game producing 14 points, 10 boards, 2 assists, and 3 blocks. Monfort dished out 6 assists.

The Blue Eagles will try to continue to a 9-game winning streak when they face the University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers on Saturday, August 20, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

STATS OF THE GAME (Regulation)
STATS OF THE GAME (Overtime)

BOX SCORES:
ATENEO (74) – Salva 18, Ravena 15, Slaughter 14, Chua 9, Monfort 7, Gonzaga 6, Long 3, Austria 2, Tiongson 0, Golla 0

FEU (67) – Garcia 17, Romeo 11, Cruz 10, Ramos 8, Escoto 7, Bringas 6, Tolomia 5, Exciminiano 3, Pogoy 0, Mendoza 0, Knuttel 0

Written by: Mikko Abello