Blue Eagles triumph in finals rematch

By Camille Eugenia B. Naredo

Juami Tiongson dribbled around one screen, and then around another. He finally lost his defender at the right elbow. Tiongson took only a split second to make a decision. He rose and lofted his jumper.

Splash.

Tiongson’s jump shot gave the Ateneo Blue Eagles a six point lead, 77-71, and completed their fourth quarter come back against the UE Red Warriors. Eric Salamat dropped 23 points, Nico Salva and Justin Chua scored 13 each, and the Blue Eagles were able to gut out the win against an upset-minded UE squad.

The Blue Eagles were down by six heading into the fourth quarter, 51-57, before Eric Salamat took over. The Man of Steal hit back to back threes and added three free throws to tie the game at 63. Emman Monfort hit another three to bring the lead back to the Ateneo, 66-65, for the first time since late in the second quarter. After UE made another mini-run to go ahead by three, the Blue Eagles put together a brilliant 14-4 run to end the game.

A three pointer by Kirk Long tied the game for the 11th time, and then Tiongson took over. He drove fearlessly for a lay-up before hitting the jump shot that gave the Blue Eagles some breathing room. When Long ended the scoring with an off-balance jumper, the Ateneo gallery seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.

For the first three quarters, it seemed as though the Blue Eagles were headed for a major upset. Their three point shots were falling, and they were preventing the Blue Eagles from setting up their offense.

“You have to hand it to UE,” Salva told goATENEO.com. “They were on today. Paul Lee came to play.”

The first quarter was the Justin Chua show for the Ateneo, as the big man scored eight points early. Rookie Arthur dela Cruz also chipped in four points and helped the Blue Eagles gain a 19-17 first quarter lead.

Team captain Salamat began to assert himself offensively in the second quarter as he attacked the UE defense and earned continuous trips to the free throw line. Unfortunately for the Blue Eagles, the Red Warriors’ perimeter shots were falling. Three pointers rained down for UE, allowing them a one point halftime lead, 37-36.

It seemed like it would all end for the Ateneo in the third quarter as UE continued their scoring barrage. The Blue Eagles would also get in early penalty situation, allowing the Red Warriors to earn their points from the charity stripe. Ateneo would be kept close by lay-ups from Salamat, Chua and Salva, but UE ended the quarter on a strong note to keep the lead.

But the fourth quarter was all blue. Ateneo outscored UE 29-16 and tightened up their defense to finally throttle Lee. The Red Warriors were not helped by their own coach’s theatrics; Lawrence Chongson was whistled for a technical foul late in the game.

“We struggled the entire game, offensively. It was the three point shots of Eric that really got us back in the game. And it lifted our spirits… and our morale,” Coach Norman Black said afterwards.

The victory gives Ateneo a 5-2 win-loss slate after the first round, tied for second with Adamson. Coach Norman said that while they would prefer to have a better record, the important thing is that they are still in the Final Four. “From experience I’ve learned that you can’t win a championship until you make it to the Final Four.”

The Blue Eagles seemed upbeat after their gutsy win, but allowed that they needed to make adjustments in the second round of the UAAP. “We have to keep getting better. The coaches know what to do, we just have to keep executing better and better,” said Long.