Eagles rock Warriors; Falcons elude Archers

MANILA, Philippines - Erik Salamat presided over a torrid fourth quarter attack as Ateneo repulsed University of the East, 80-73, to finish second after the first round of eliminations yesterday in the UAAP Season 73 seniors basketball tournament.

Salamat hit back-to-back triples and canned three foul shots to fire up the Eagles in a 29-16 run in the final quarter that propelled the Katipunan-based cagers to a 5-2 card, two games behind unbeaten leader Far Eastern U (7-0).

Adamson also wrapped up its first round campaign with a 5-2 slate for the No. 3 slot after prevailing over La Salle in come-from-behind fashion, 70-68, earlier.

“We struggled the entire game offensively and the two three-point shots of Erik really got us back into the game and lifted our spirits a little bit and our morale. He really came up big time for us today,” said Ateneo coach Norman Black of his skipper, who had 10 points in the fourth for a game-high 23.

“Defensively, we’re a little bit off, they (Warriors) were able to hit their outside shots. But Erik came up with big shots in the end and Juami Tiongson also had big baskets down the stretch (that pulled us through),” Black said.

Salamat’s nine straight points forced a standoff at 63 after UE built a 51-44 lead late in the third. His energy rubbed off on Emman Monfort and Kirk Long, who each connected on a triple, and Tiongson, who had two straight 15-footers that gave Ateneo a 77-71 cushion with 1:06 left.

Nico Salva and Justine Chua backstopped Salamat with 13 apiece while Long finished with 10.

Paul Lee (16 points, nine rebounds and seven assists) and Kenneth Acibar (14 points and 10 boards) led UE, which finished second last year but closed out the first round elims with a woeful 1-6.

After playing man-to-man all year long and the first three periods against La Salle, the Adamson Falcons suddenly switched to zone and outplayed the Archers in the last 10 minutes, 18-9, to post their best first-round record since the Final Four format was introduced in 1994.

“We made a major adjustment in defense and that was the key,” said Adamson coach Leo Austria.

“They did not expect us to play zone since we’ve never played zone in the summer leagues and in the first six games. And we know we cannot contain La Salle ‘s offense from start to finish with a man-to-man defense, so we made that adjustment in the fourth quarter.”

Throwing the Archers off guard, the Falcons methodically extinguished La Salle ‘s 54-46 lead, with Jan Colina, Lester Alvarez, Alex Nuyles and Eric Camson doing the most damage.

Camson nailed a basket underneath to give Adamson a 67-66 spread but DLSU retook the upperhand, 68-67, on a drive by Joseph Tolentino with 1:22 to go.

Nuyles then swished an acrobatic shot to hand the edge back to the Falcons, 69-68, with 35 seconds left.

The 6-4 Camson later disrupted Joseph Tolentino’s pass to Alvin Villanueva to restore possession for Adamson then connected on a split following DLSU’s three “duty fouls” for a 70-68 tear, 12.9 ticks to go.

Will Stinnett and Alvarez foiled Luigi de la Paz’s offensive maneuver in the final 5.6 seconds to seal the triumph for AdU.

La Salle ended the first-round with a 4-3 slate.

Colina normed 16 markers for AdU while Camson added 15 and Alvarez had 12, seven of them in the final canto.

Rookie de la Paz led the way for La Salle with 13, followed by Joshua Webb, Joseph Marata and Tolentino with 10 apiece.

In women’s action, Adamson demolished University of the East, 114-72, to catch up with idle Far Eastern at the helm at 6-0.

Anna Buendia (22), Analyn Almasan (20), Gretchie Roque (18), Snow Penaranda (16) and Fria Bernardo (12) combined for 88 points, which were good enough to beat the entire Lady Warriors side.

UE, which was led by Cindy Resultay’s 26, absorbed its sixth straight loss to remain entrenched at the cellar.

Santo Tomas disposed of National U, 72-68, to share third spot with La Salle at 4-2.

Notes: US Ambassador to the Philippines Harry Thomas was on hand to witness the Ateneo-UE match, as did visiting Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, who watched the third quarter of the game.