Unbeaten Eagles, Warriors show way

Ateneo used its height and heft advantage to the hilt as it smothered a hapless University of the Philippines side, 79-55, yesterday to gain a share of the lead with the University of the East in the 70th UAAP basketball tournament at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

Rabeth Al-Hussaini, Ford Arao and Jobe Nkemakolam imposed their will against their smaller opponents and combined for 45 points and 31 rebounds, including 16 on the offensive end for the Eagles’ second straight victory.

“We know we have the size advantage against UP,” said Ateneo coach Norman Black, whose charges needed to go through an overtime before subduing a tough Adamson side, 69-63, last Sunday.

Earlier, the Warriors booked their second straight victory by edging a hard-fighting National U quintet, 82-75.

The Warriors, who blasted the defending champion University of Santo Tomas Tigers, 73-60, Sunday, raced to leads of as many as 22 points in the third quarter, the last at 66-44 on a pair of foul shots by Marcy Arellano.

But UE sophomore Fhadzmir Bandaying lost his cool and was slapped a technical foul late in the third period, giving the Bulldogs the chance to regroup and come up with a counterattack.

Down 50-70 at the start of the last quarter, the Bulldogs unloaded a fiery 22-3 run to close within at 72-73 with over two minutes to go in the contest. But the Bulldogs failed to sustain its rally while the Warriors made key free throws down the stretch, including three by Hans Thiele, to preserve the victory.