Ateneo 69, UST 66
Blue Eagles clinch Finals spot
Unlike last season, the Blue Eagles' down-the-wire games were really few. The first game against the Adamson Soaring Falcons was one (ending the game with a 55-51 card). After that, all the Blue Eagles' wins were blowouts, with most of them having the fourth quarter as mere formalities that will settle the final score and allow the opponent to at least catch up.
But then, there was the near-shocker against FEU during the start of the second round. Thanks to Kiefer Ravena, the Blue Eagles still held a perfect record after turning a 16-point deficit in the first half to a 6-point overtime win. The Red Warriors, one of the lowly teams of this season, put the Blue Eagles' standings at the line, but Emman Monfort silenced the reds with his free throws. Everyone wished that the battle against the Adamson Soaring Falcons would go the same, but time (and shooting and defense and everything else) ran out for the Blue Eagles, instead losing in double digits.
Nowhere in the previous paragraph did the UST Growling Tigers got mentioned, who were defeated by the Blue Eagles twice during the eliminations. Their first meeting was close up until the middle of the third quarter, when the Ateneo first five pushed the gas pedal and went all the way to a 13-point win. It was even better in the second round, when the Blue Eagles were excellent on both ends of the floor, and the bench even stopped the UST first five from even getting close in the final canto.
Having those wins against the Growling Tigers, this semi-final match should be a walk in the park, a mere formality to enter the Finals, right?
Wrong. After the defeat against the Blue Eagles in the second round, Coach Pido Jarencio made the necessary adjustments to win the next four games, only to lose to the National University Bulldogs in their final game (due to Karim Abdul's suspension and Carmelo Afuang's operation) which brought them to the fourth seed. In this semifinal game, the Growling Tigers have shown that the Blue Eagles would have to work hard, harder than their elimination round efforts, to punch their ticket to the Finals.
In the first half, crowds of the blue and the yellow show a shuffling between two teams. Leads were switching early on, and the Blue Eagles first five could not cool down the Tigers, especially Karim Abdul. Fortunately, the efforts of the Ateneo bench on both sides of the court, especially Tonino Gonzaga and Juami Tiongson, gave the Blue Eagles some breathing room, before the starters went back out and extended the lead to 8 by the half.
Cruise control was the theme of the third quarter, as an offensive surge led by Nico Salva extended the lead to fourteen. But then, a bad bench effort during the dying minutes and an offensive surge led by Chris Camus and Jeric Teng led to a critical situation for the Blue Eagles. Fortunately, time was on their side, as Nico Salva sunk his two free throws to keep the lead at thee after a Jeric Teng trey brought UST as close as one point from forcing a second do-or-die game. When the final buzzer sounded, there was no trace of premature celebration either from the team or from the crowd, for everyone knows that there is still a lot to work on, and the blue crowd could only thank the Growling Tigers for giving the Blue Eagles one hell of a game that shows that they are mortals, far from basketball gods who can make their way to a fourth straight crown and carve their destiny without looking at mistakes and keeping their focus in the game.
Perimeter offense and defense. Making the right passes and plays. Keeping the enemy at bay. These are some of the things that the Blue eagles will have to redraw and reprogram. Greg Slaughter and Kiefer Ravena have done so much, but the rest will have to exert the same effort and produce the same results as they do. To put it short, it's time for them to bring back the hundred and ten percent that brought them to a 13-1 record. Consider themselves having their backs on the wall even though they don't, because as we all know the Falcons and the Tamaraws are hungry for the crown, as hungry as the Blue Eagles were during these past four years.
And for the Blue Eagles' Sixth Men and Women? It's time for them to get serious. Of course, they would want a semifinal blowout like the past championship years, but they would rather have this win than have another semifinal game. After all, there is a time to feel that, and it's certainly not in the semifinals, but during the final two (or three) matches that really matter.
The scores:
Ateneo 69 – Slaughter 17, Ravena 13, Salva 12, Chua 9, Tiongson 5, Gonzaga 5, Monfort 4, Long 4, Golla 0, Austria 0
UST 66 – Abdul 16, Camus 13, Teng 11, Ferrer 10, Fortuna 8, Afuang 5, Tan 3, Sheriff 0, Pe 0, Lo 0, Ungria 0
Quarter scoring: 18-18, 38-30, 52-40, 60-66
Credits to inboundpass.com for the box and Fabilioh.com for the pic.
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