Eagles rout Tigers on way to final

MANILA, Philippines - Top seed defending champion Ateneo put on a strong start and a stronger finish as it outclassed University of Santo Tomas, 81-64, yesterday to make a return trip to the finals of the 72nd UAAP seniors basketball tournament at the Araneta Coliseum.

Cheered on by the predominantly blue-clad supporters, the Eagles jumped the gun on the fourth seeded Tigers early and then unleashed a series of runs in the second half to finish off their hapless rivals and roll to the best-of-three finals starting on Sunday.

“Of course you never expect to win by a big margin but you go into the game with the attitude to be the one to jump at them,” said Ateneo coach Norman Black.

“We wanted to start it off with a good run because we didn’t want to happen in this game what happened the last time out against FEU,” he said, referring to their come-from-behind win over the Tams that gave them the No. 1 spot in the Final Four.

This marked the seventh time Ateneo earned a trip to the championship round, winning four titles along the way, including a sweep of arch rival La Salle last year.

Second seed FEU and No. 3 University of the East dispute the other final berth on Thursday. The Warriors forced a sudden death for the other final berth by beating the Mark Barroca-less Tams, 84-74, in their own side of the Final Four last Saturday.

Jai Reyes fired 17 points he spiked with three triples while Ryan Buenafe stepped up big in the absence of Nico Salva, suspended for one-game suspension for punching FEU’s Jens Knuttel in their last game of the elimination round.

“Ryan (Buenafe) stepped up big time and we told him that he would have to do that because Nico Salva is out,” said Black. “Both he and Nico are normally the offensive weapons and options for the second team so with Nico out, he became the No. 1 option. He really stepped up offensively, I think he also played pretty good defense for the most part.

“I challenged Jai (Reyes) about four games ago and I told him that I hoped to see his best at the end of the tournament. If you remember last year, he was really one of the main reasons why we won the championship,” he said.

“It’s painful,” said UST mentor Pido Jarencio, who steered the España-based school to the 2006 title on his rookie year as a coach. “Probably the guys were pressured.”

Smart Gilas Pilipinas standout Dylan Ababou carried the load for the Tigers again but the Eagles’ firepower proved too much for the Tigers.

The reigning MVP played his last UAAP game by pouring in 19 points and hauling down eight rebounds with one assist.

UAAP Notes: Unlike the first Final Four match where there were empty seats, the attendance for the Ateneo-UST duel drew a bigger crowd of 11,577 paying patrons...US Ambassador Kristie Kenney watched the game and brought along former Ateneo captain Chris Tiu and fellow Smart Gilas Pilipinas player Japeth Aguilar...Alvin Teng, called the Robocop during his PBA days, was in blazing yellow shirt to cheer for son Jeric Teng, the talented rookie Tiger...Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas president Manny V. Pangilinan was also in the crowd to support Ateneo.