6 Points: AdMU vs. UP

Ateneo 77, UP 55

-It's surprising that by the end of the first quarter, the struggling Fighting Maroons found themselves ahead by two points against the league's best team. It's a good thing that the Blue Eagles woke up in time to bury them, therefore securing their fifth win by playing their usual fast ball.

-To admit, the Blue Eagles were really shooting bad from beyond the arc since the start of Season 74, but for today, they had ten three-point attempts with six of them getting in. Kirk Long swished both of his treys, Emman Monfort found his groove with 2 out of 3, and Kiefer Ravena and Zags Gonzaga had 1 of 2 each.

-All starters scored double figures, and played their "usual best." However, it was a really bad day for the bench, who scored only 11 total points. Justin Chua has not yet found his groove from the outside, save for his one and only basket. Juami Tiongson was unable to set plays for easy shots. And worst of all, Bacon Austria continually made mistakes and bad choices, even not chasing the ball in one possession. Ateneo bench, when will you come and step up? If they keep on playing like this, they will just waste the efforts of the first five in keeping Ateneo afloat.

-All of UP's games bear a common pattern: they start strong and energetic, but once the second half kicks in and the opponents chip away at their lead, they lose their focus and return to their old shooting ways. Now, they should find a way to conserve their energy and at the same time not lose their poise late in the game and when the going gets tough.

-The boards were bad for the Eagles, who got outrebounded by the Maroons by one, 40-39. While Ateneo had the edge over defensive rebounding, 34-26, they only had 3 offensive boards compared to UP's 14. Again, what happened?

-This game showed that the Blue Eagles are a fourth quarter team. The boys can finish near the end. Similarly, the crowd goes wild near the end. When will the Sixth Men be alive for the whole game? Anyway, the Ateneo community had a really long UAAP break, and it's time for them to get ready for tougher matches, as the UST Growling Tigers and the FEU Tamaraws, both with serious agenda in mind, are up next to end the first round.

The Scores:

Ateneo 77 – Ravena 15, Slaughter 14, Long 14, Monfort 13, Salva 10, Gonzaga 6, Chua 2, Golla 2, Tiongson 1, Pessumal 0, Cipriano 0, Capacio 0, Erram 0, Sumalinog 0, Austria 0

UP 57 – Silungan 8, Manuel 8, Gamboa 8, Mbah 7, Maniego 7, Romero 6, Montecastro 6, Gomez 5, Pascual 2, Wierzba 0, Fortu 0, Juruena 0

Quarter scoring: 19-21, 42-31, 57-43, 77-57

Photo from Fabilioh.com and box from Inboundpass.com