Ateneo Knock out FEU
THE last seniors match in the 2011 FilOil Flying V Pre-Season Premier Cup will be the same one that kicked off the entire tournament.
Seven-foot University of the Visayas transferee and national team member Greg Slaughter scored six of Ateneo de Manila University’s last eight points to keep the Far Eastern University Tamaraws at bay and out of the tournament, 82-74 in the semifinals at the FilOil Flying V Arena in San Juan last June 10.
The victory sets up a rematch of last April 9′s season opening encounter between the Blue Eagles and San Beda College, a game that Ateneo won, 90-87, behind 26 points from Slaughter. The title game will be played at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday, June 12.
Remarkably, it will be Ateneo’s first crack at the FilOil Flying V trophy since the tournament’s inception as a postseason affair in 2006. “The last four years, coming back from the US, we had quaterfinals games and lost,” noted Ateneo coach Norman Black. “When we came back this year, we still had an elimination game versus La Salle, which we lost. If that was a quarterfinals game, we would have [been eliminated]. We played much better tonight.”
In this game, Slaughter led all scorers with 24 points, part of a double-double with his 14 rebounds. Veteran Blue Eagle guards Emman Monfort and Kirk Long broke out of shooting slumps and combined for 26 points, five triples, six rebounds and eight assists. Kiefer Ravena added nine markers.
Up two, 35-33 near the end of the second quarter, Ateneo scored eight unanswered to stretch its lead to double-digits. The celebration was short lived, though, as Russel Escoto made a wide open basket to pull FEU to within eight, 43-35 at the break.
After halftime, the Blue Eagles came out still looking to score, jumping out to a 6-2 run. At the 6:52 mark of the third quarter, two technical fouls were slapped on FEU mentor Bert Flores for excessive complaining. Flores was ejected from the game, paving the way for Monfort to troop to the line for four charities. The Ilonggo guard made them all and extended the Ateneo lead to its highest, 53-37.
In the final canto, FEU had multiple chances to seize the advantage. A put-back off a Pipo Noundou miss by Aldrech Ramos cut the lead to four, 70-66, but a hook shot from Slaughter and a triple from Ravena increased it to nine. The Tamaraws responded with six unanswered to get within a triple, 75-72, only to convert just one more score, a long deuce by Terrence Romeo, as the stingy Ateneo defense held them to just those two points in the last 3:23 of the game.
Ramos, Slaughter’s teammate on the National Team, and last season’s UAAP MVP, RR Garcia, had 15 points each. Former Rookie of the Year recipients JR Cawaling and Terrence Romeo added 11 apiece for the erstwhile undefeated Tams.
Tournament MVP candidate Pipo Noundou left the game early at the 2:18 mark of the fourth quarter as he fell down awkwardly after a layup attempt. After the game, the Cameroonian was diagnosed with a mild sprain on his left ankle.
Aggressive play by the Blue Eagles got them a 30 to 11 advantage at the line, with Ateneo converting 23 of its 30 foul shots. The Tams’ perimeter defense also made a normally poor-shooting three-point team look spectacular, allowing the blue shirts seven makes on 14 tries.
When asked about their chances against San Beda, Black said, “[They are] one of the best teams in the country. They have the size to match us. We’ll just have to rely on our defense.”
Before they play the Red Lions, however, the Blue Eagles take on the National University Bulldogs in the semifinals of the parallel Father Martin Summer Cup at 2 p.m. at the San Beda gym along Mendiola. W5
The scores:
Ateneo 82 – Slaughter 24, Monfort 15, Long 11, Ravena 9, Salva 8 Chua 6, Sumalinog 5, Golla 2, Erram 2, Austria 0, Gonzaga 0
FEU 74 – Garcia 15, Ramos 15, Cawaling 11, Romeo 11, Exciminiano 7, Noundou 6, Escoto 6, Bringas 2, Knuttel 1, Sentcheu 0, Tolomia 0, Cruz 0
Quarter scoring: 22-18, 43-35, 63-52, 82-74
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