Archers make Eagles extinct, reach final
In the end, no big shots came from Chris Tiu of Ateneo. Cholo Villanueva delivered them for
Villanueva came through with clutch baskets in the fourth quarter and shackled Tiu all game as the Archers finally put away the Eagles, 65-60, yesterday in their sudden death for the second final berth in the UAAP men’s basketball tournament at the packed Araneta Coliseum.
Playing his last season as an Archer, Villanueva pumped in nine of his 13 points in the final period while neutralizing Tiu in the other end as the Taft-based squad took a step closer to making a successful return from a one-year suspension.
“It’s nice to be back in the finals,” said La Salle coach Franz Pumaren moments after steering the Archers to the final for the first time since losing the crown to the Far Eastern U Tams three seasons ago.
The Archers face a well-rested University of the East side on Thursday at the start of the best-of-three showdown for this year’s crown.
The Dindo Pumaren-mentored Warriors swept the two-round elims to clinch the first championship berth.
The final will also mark the first time that the Pumarens will clash in a championship game.
“It has been long overdue, we’re finally facing each other in the finals,” said Franz, who will be appearing in the finals for the eighth time since taking over the coaching reins from Jong Uichico a decade ago.
Rico Maeirhofer sealed the emotional win with a foul shot that sent half of over 23,000 fans into frenzied celebration and the other half into tears.
Tiu, who scored a couple of crucial shots in a 76-75 Ateneo squeaker Thursday to force the rubber match for the No. 2 spot, failed to come up with even one this time as he was held to just two points in the last quarter.
Credit that to
The Archers, in fact, held the Eagles to just two field goals in the final period and a season-low total output.
“This is the only game in the season that we responded to the challenge by playing good defense,” said Pumaren.
Their failure to control the defensive board, particularly in the closing minute, proved costly for the Eagles, last year’s losing finalist to the UST Tigers but out of this year’s championship despite beating the Archers thrice in a record-tying five games this year.
Ateneo swept elimination round meetings, an 80-77 win in overtime in the first round an 89-87 triumph in the second, lost to La Salle, 70-69, in a playoff for the twice-to-beat advantage before forcing a fifth and final duel with a 76-75 triumph on Tiu’s endgame brilliance.
It turned out to be the last.
“I told Cholo and even TY (Tang) before the game that this will be their last game against Ateneo because they’ll be graduating, and they rose to the challenge,” said Pumaren.
The Archers dictated the pace early under deafening roars from both sides as they led by as many as nine points in the first quarter, 15-6.
A 14-1 blast bridging the first and second quarters turned things around for the Eagles, who wrested the lead at 20-16 as Eric Salamat took over.
Simon Atkins, a rookie out of reigning UAAP high school champion La Salle-Zobel, fired a jumper and a triple to spark a closing run that gave the Taft-based school a 29-26 upper hand at the break.
Maeirhofer, the MVP in both the Nike and Fil-Oil tournaments last summer, led the Archers’ attack early with seven first half points while Tang, who turned 23 Thursday, fired six points.
The scores:
La Salle 65 – Villanueva 13, Tang 12, Maeirhofer 12, Casio 10, Malabes 5, Atkins 5, Walsham 4, Ferdinand 2, Cua 2, Mangahas 0, Co 0, Barua 0.
Ateneo 60 – Arao 14, Tiu 10, Salamat 10, Baclao 7, Al-Hussaini 6, Reyes 5, Long 4, Baldos 2, Escueta 2, Monfort 0, Laterre 0.
Quarterscores: 16-14; 29-26; 48-43; 65-60
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