MANILA, Philippines - Ateneo coach Norman Black had openly described University of Santo Tomas as the “team to worry about” in the UAAP Season 75 men’s basketball tournament.
Whether or not Black had a legit reason to be wary of the Tigers will be known today when the five-peat-seeking Blue Eagles (1-0) collide with UST (0-1) in the first game at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The protagonists head into the 2 p.m. encounter carrying contrasting fates from their respective opening assignments, the Blue Eagles victorious over Adamson (73-57), the Tigers reeling from a blown triumph in a 72-73 loss to Far Eastern.
“We have to be really ready to play because UST probably should have won that game against FEU and they ended up losing so I’m sure they’re really going to come out to get their first win,” said Black.
Ateneo’s rival, De La Salle U also guns for its second straight victory as the Archers take on the University of the East Warriors (0-1) at 4 p.m.
Black said his major concerns against the Tigers are the inside presence of Karim Abdul and the hot hands of UST’s gunners.
“From watching the game with FEU, Abdul played very well. I believe he had 17 points in the first half alone so we have to try to find a way to slow him down. Hopefully Greg (Slaughter) will help us in that aspect,” said the AdMU mentor, who also stressed the need to improve their rebounding after yielding 21 offensive boards to Adamson in their maiden outing.
“In addition to that, UST’s perimeter shooters are very, very good,” he noted, referring to the likes of Jeric Teng, Jeric Fortuna, Clark Bautista and Aljon Mariano, who shot 37.5 percent (6-of-16) from beyond the arc last week.
La Salle, meanwhile, seeks to gain momentum from its 73-68 victory over University of the Philippines as it takes on a UE side coming off a forgettable 55-90 rout to National U on opening day.
The Warriors, however, have shown their capability to upset the Archers, at least during the summer leagues when they scored a 64-63 win in the Fr. Martin Cup and a 67-65 victory in the Filoil meet.
“We have prepared something (against UE) and I think it’s going to be a fast game for us,” said DLSU mentor Gee Abanilla.
La Salle drew big games from co-skipper LA Revilla (15 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists), rookie Jeron Teng (15 points, 10 in the fourth) and Norbert Torres (16 markers, 14 boards, three assists and three blocks) in posting win No. 1.
“The combination of LA and Jeron is really good. I think we have to exploit this also,” said Abanilla, likewise giving props on Torres. “Norbert also played really well. He needs to assert himself inside but we saw a lot of double teams, different looks defensively on Norbert but fortunately, he showed a different facet, his passing ability.”
Meanwhile, Ralph Atangan scored 25 points as defending champion National University subdued the La Salle-Zobel Junior Archers, 80-74, at the start of the juniors tournament.
Far Eastern University, meanwhile, used a big third quarter attack to fashion out a 69-58 victory over the Ateneo Blue Eaglets.
Hubert Cani, a national youth mainstay, chipped in 15 points while Reggienal Morido had a double-double with 14 points and 10 boards for the Jeff Napa-mentored Bullpups.
Henri Subido topscored for La Salle with 20 points.
In other matches, the Adamson Baby Falcons downed the University of the East Junior Warriors, 73-67, while the University of Santo Tomas Tiger Cubs outlasted the University of the Philippines Integrated School, 77-73.