Eagles find new star in win over Tigers

MANILA, Philippines - Justin Chua stepped up for Ateneo in the fourth quarter, firing eight points down low and powering the Eagles to a 68-56 victory over the UST Tigers in the UAAP men’s basketball tournament at the Philsports Arena in Pasig yesterday.

Chua, who only had two points and one rebound in a four-minute stint in the Eagles’ 69-72 loss to the FEU Tams last week and didn’t see action in the team’s controversial 69-66 decision over Adamson Thursday, finished with 17 points this time to power the Eagles to their second win in three games.

“It was just a gut feel. I felt that I needed a little bit more scoring in the low post from a big guy and I wasn’t really getting it from (rookie) JP Erram,” said Ateneo coach Norman Black.

La Salle, meanwhile, relied on rookie Philip Paredes’ dominating performance as it trounced last year’s runner-up University of the East, 82-63, to join Adamson and Ateneo in second on 2-1 cards. Far Eastern U remains the only unbeaten team with a 2-0 card.

The Warriors slid to 0-2 in a tie with the UP Maroons in the cellar.

Maui Villanueva, Sam Marata, Indonesian Ferdinand and Yutien Andrada dished out career-best of 16, 15, nine and eight points, respectively, but it was the 6-5 Paredes who hogged the spotlight with 10 points, eight rebounds and a season-high six shot blocks.

“Justin has a great attitude, he’s been working hard in practice, he hasn’t complained that he’s not playing and I just thought I’ll give him a chance and it worked out well today (yesterday),” he said.

Black hopes Chua, an MVP during his high school years at Chiang Kai Shek, turns out just like Rabeh Al Hussaini, a former league and Finals MVP who is now with Smart Gilas Pilipinas.

“I hope so, but I think he has a lot of work to do before we could say he’s going to be like Rabeh,” said Black. “There was really no pressure on him to score. A lot of his baskets actually came off drop passes from his teammates but he was able to knock them down.”

Nico Salva, Frank Golla, Edwin Escueta and talented rookie Arthur dela Cruz also combined for 32 points, 19 rebounds and three shot blocks to back Chua’s solid performance.

“They stepped up, they really played well inside, which is something we really needed because UST is a very physical team and if we don’t play them physical they’ll pretty much bully you the whole game so I think our big guys did a good job of handling the rebounds and having a presence inside,” he said.

The game was actually closer than what the final score showed as the Tigers battled the Eagles to four deadlocks and 12 lead changes, including a 44-43 upperhand on a goal-tending basket awarded to Edcor Marata with less than three minutes left in the third period.

But the Eagles clamped down on defense and started to go to their frontcourt, particularly to Chua, who nailed three jumpers and strung together an eight-point binge that practically took the fight out of the Tigers.

Clark Bautista and Jeric Teng fired 11 and 10 points, respectively, for UST, which sputtered with nine misses out of 13 tries in the fourth quarter.

It was the Tigers’ first loss after beating last year’s losing finalist University of the East, 80-67.

UAAP Notes: Telecommunications tycoon Manny V. Pangilinan was among those in the big crowd, remaining one of the Eagles’ most ardent supporters, at least for this season...Paulo Pe, who has been playing major minutes for UST, saw action for reigning back-to-back UAAP high school champion Ateneo...For the second straight day, Philippine Sports Commission chairman Harry Angping watched the game and silently cheered for his alma mater La Salle...There were a lot of players who played yesterday who have PBA pedigree, among them Arthur dela Cruz and Bacon Austria of Ateneo, Joshua Webb of La Salle and Jeric Teng of Santo Tomas, sons or a grand son of former PBA stars Art dela Cruz, Leo Austria, Freddie Webb and Alvin Teng, respectively.

The scores:

First Game

First Game (Srs)

Ateneo 68 – Chua 17, Salva 14, Monfort 8, Salamat 7, Golla 7, dela Cruz 6, Escueta 5, Long 2, Austria 2, Tiongson 0, Buenafe 0.

UST 56 – Bautista 11, Teng 10, Camus 8, Fortuna 7, Mariano 7, Pe 4, Afuang 4, Marata 2, Aytona 2, Daquiog 1, Wong 0, Tinte 0, Mamaril 0, Lo 0

Quarterscores: 15-14; 31-32; 51-46; 68-56

Second Game (Srs)

La Salle 82 – Villanueva 16, Marata 15, Paredes 10, dela Paz 9, Ferdinand 8, Andrada 8, Atkins 7, Tolentino 4, Tampus 3, Webb 2, Vosotros 0, Elorde 0, Mendoza 0

UE 63 – Lee 25, Zamar 11, Martinez 9, Reyes 5, Acibar 5, Enguio 3, Santos 2, Razon 2, Casajeros 1, Rosopa 0, Tagarda 0, Duran 0, Ayala 0

Quarterscores: 17-11; 38-31; 66-50; 82-63