MANILA, Philippines - There seems to be no stopping Ateneo’s rampage in UAAP Season 74 men’s basketball as the Eagles claimed the scalp of their sixth straight victim in hapless University of Santo Tomas, 66-53, yesterday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Using a sleek running game and solid plays from starters Kiefer Ravena (18 points) and Nico Salva (14) and relievers Tonino Gonzaga (eight) and Bacon Austria (seven), the Eagles emerged victorious against the physical Tigers (2-3) for the 10th straight game dating back to 2007.
“In the first half we’re taken a little bit surprised by how we’re being defended and we did a very poor job of executing our offense,” said AdMU coach Norman Black, whose wards used a 10-2 run to go up by nine at the half.
“But what helped us was we’re able to get out and run. Whenever you have fastbreak points and turnover points, you’ll have a better chance of winning even if you don’t shoot that well,” he added.
Ateneo scored 26 points off the break against UST’s three and converted 14 points off the Tigers’ 24 turnovers.
“It also helped that Nico and Kiefer came up with big performance today,” Black said of his rookie guard who also had six assists and veteran forward who hauled down nine rebounds.
“Our bench also played better,” added the mentor of his second unit which scored 20 to offset the six points of starting center Greg Slaughter.