It's Ateneo vs DLSU for UAAP cage crown

Taking different routes, Ateneo and La Salle produced the same results – ousting University of the East and Far Eastern U, respectively, in the Final Four to arrange a blockbuster showdown for this year’s UAAP men’s basketball crown.

The Eagles played like they were already in the title playoff, thumping the hapless, fumbling UE Warriors with a choking defense and a superb all-around game to run away with a clinical 70-50 rout at the packed Araneta Coliseum.

The Archers earlier toiled in their pursuit of the first final ticket, surviving the stubborn Tamaraws with endgame poise to hack out a 67-62 victory.

Ateneo and La Salle will thus meet in a dream championship title clash on Sunday, the first since the Eagles got back at the Archers, 77-70, in a thrilling sudden death in the classic 2002-03 season finale.

It will be the rival schools’ fourth showdown for the UAAP title in two decades, with Ateneo winning in 1988 and La Salle nipping Ateneo, also in sudden death, 93-88, in the 2001-02 season, giving the Eagles a 2-1 edge in their head-to-head duel.

Game One of the best-of-three series, tipped to establish new records in attendance and TV ratings, will start at 4 p.m. with the Eagles out to finish the season the way they started it – on No. 1.

The Archers, on the other hand, are going flat out to complete a back-to-back championship.

Game Two is set on Sept. 25 with the third game, if necessary, slated on Sept. 28.

The win also sent Ateneo to its seventh finals stint since joining the UAAP in 1978, while La Salle will be making its 17th appearance since its entry into the league in 1986.

“Our focus will be on defense. We will try to limit the other team as much as possible, that’s pretty much how the way we won against UE, we just played defense,” said Ateneo coach Norman Black.

Save for a lackluster start, the Eagles were all business majority of the way, leaning on Jay Reyes’ fiery performance and their dreaded defensive game to take the starch out of the Warriors.

The Warriors, hoping to extend the series for a crack at a return trip to the finals, failed to get their vaunted full-court trapping defense going and failed to break through the Eagles’ own half-court defense.

So dominating was Ateneo that its winning margin was the biggest in the Final Four since National U was routed by La Salle in 2001.

“We’re not the same type of defensive team like La Salle and UE where they try a lot of full court defense and they force a lot of turnovers. We’re pretty proud of the fact that we can play half-court defense and we can limit teams as far as their production is concerned we did a good job tonight,” Black said.

Just like everybody else, Black sees a classic title duel.

“There’ll be no secret. I guess we know each other pretty well. We just played recently for the second time. Whenever you play La Salle you know its going to be a tough game, you know they’re talented, well-coached and they played good defense also,” Black said.

James Mangahas bounced back from a sub-par effort the last time out by firing 10 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter, including the go-ahead three-point play down the stretch.

The defending champions then held the Tams to just a foul shot in the final three minutes of play as the green-clad students, fans and supporters erupted in frenzied celebration.

“I guess we really showed our championship poise down the stretch. I think our experience playing in the Final Four really helped us,” said La Salle coach Franz Pumaren.

The Tams, relegated to No. 3 after a 59-62 loss to the Archers Thursday, literally lived and died with Mac Baracael.

Baracael, who provided the inspiration with an amazing recovery after he was shot last month, missed three of his four free throws in the final one and a half minutes.

JV Casio struggled and finished with just 11 points in the face of FEU’s tough defense but played decoy to open up scoring opportunities for La Salle’s other players, including the 6-foot-3 Mangahas.

“It was a smart play by JV (Casio), they know he is being covered, people will surround him. But they forgot a player named James Mangahas,” said Pumaren.

The scores:

First Game

La Salle 67 – Mangahas 20, Casio 11, Maeirhofer 8, Malabes 7, Barua 7, Ferdinand 6, Atkins 5, Bagatsing 3, Villanueva 0, Revilla 0, Mendoza 0

FEU 62 – Cawaling 18, Ramos 12, Fernandez 9, Baracael 8, Adolfo 6, Cervantes 5, Sanga 2, Barroca 2, Knuttel 0

Quarterscores: 16-20; 34-38; 48-52; 67-62

Second Game

Ateneo 70 – Reyes 13, Baclao 12, Salamat 11, Al-Hussaini 10, Buenafe 9, Salva 5, Gonzaga 2, Long 2, Sumalinog 2, Escueta 2, Tiu 2, Austria 0, Baldos 0, Nkemakolam 0

UE 50 – Martinez 13, Espiritu 11, Lee 8, Llagas 8, Thiele 4, Zamar 3, Tagarda 3, Noble 0, Lingganay 0, Bandaying 0, Reyes 0, Arellano 0

Quarterscores: 17-11; 32-21; 49-28; 70-50