Eagles tame Bulldogs, firm up No. 1 position

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MANILA,Philippines - Ateneo toughened up on defense in the second half to score a runaway 70-56 victory over National U yesterday and boost its bid for the No. 1 spot in the Final Four in the UAAP Season 75 men’s basketball tournament at the PhilSports Arena.

The Blue Eagles choked the Bulldogs to a 9-of-29 shooting in the last 20 minutes of action, holding the high-scoring Bobby Ray Parks to a mere 11-point output to secure their 11th win in 13 outings, moving a win shy of gaining the twice-to-beat advantage in the semis.

“Going back to the stats, we went into the game knowing we’re the Top 2 offensive teams in the league and something has to give as far as offense is concerned,” said Ateneo coach Norman Black.

“In the first half, we weren’t able to control them defensively but at the half, we made some adjustments, the defense really gave us the chance to pull away,” he added.

NU, which dropped to 7-5 in a tie for fourth with La Salle, struggled with a 36.7 percent shooting clip (22-of-60) overall, after a 41.9 percent marksmanship (13-of-31) in the first half. 

Parks, who exploded with 32 in NU’s last outing, struggled for just 11 markers on 5-of-17 field goal shooting, his last three baskets coming when the outcome had already been settled.

“The Bulldogs came into the game averaging 73 points a game, and how much did they get today? Fifty-six, so I’m pretty happy with our defense in the second half,” said Black.

He said it was not a conscious effort to try and stop Parks, who was guarded by the smaller Kiefer Ravena.

“It’s a team effort. Whenever he (Parks) got the ball in isolation situations, we sent help to Kiefer and our rotation/help defense is pretty good,” he said.

Greg Slaughter banged in 22 points, doing the most damage in the second half where he made 14 to tow the Eagles to as much as an 18-point lead, at 68-50. He also grabbed seven rebounds and had three blocks and two assists.

“We’re not guaranteed of the twice-to-beat advantage yet so we really have to come out and get the two games,” said Slaughter, whose team will seek the No. 1 spot against Santo Tomas tomorrow.

Slaughter’s dominating game was complemented by Ravena and Nico Salva with 14 markers apiece.

Emmanuel Mbe topscored for NU with 19 points and 14 boards.

Earlier, Far Eastern University held University of the Philippines scoreless in the last two minutes to eke out a 67-63 victory and improve to 9-3 and tie University of Santo Tomas at second at 9-3.

Roger Pogoy led the way with 16 points, including two clutch free throws off Diony Hipolito that gave the Tams a 66-63 cushion with 1:03 left.

The victory thus boosted the Tams’ Final Four bid, stretching to two games their lead against the fourth and fifth ranked teams, National U and La Salle.

“It’s always a close fight everytime we meet UP,” said FEU coach Bert Flores. “This is an important win because nothing is still guaranteed at this point, considering the tight race for the  Final Four.”

FEU basically achieved all its objectives against UP (1-12).

“We wanted to control the boards and score on the fastbreak,” said Flores, whose wards totally imposed their will off the boards, 46-27, and ran their way to 14 transition points.

Mike Silungan and Alvin Padilla combined for 23 markers for UP, which botched its chance to force an extension with a pair of missed triples in their last offensive. second one-game ban imposed by his school. He incurred an unsportsmanlike foul for elbowing UP’s Diony Hipolito during a rebound play.

The scores:

First Game

FEU 67 – Pogoy 16, Romeo 13, Garcia 11, Belo 7, Hargrove 5, Escoto 4, M. Bringas 4, A. Bringas 4, Mendoza 2, Cruz 2, Inigo 0.

UP 63 – Silungan 12, Padilla 11, Soyud 8, Montecastro 7, Ball 6, Manuel 5, Lopez 4, Hipolito 3, Gamboa 3, Mbah  2, Asilum 2, Romero 0, Gallarza 0.

Quarterscores: 16-18, 34-34, 53-48, 67-63

Second Game

ADMU 70 – Slaughter 22, Salva 14, Ravena 14, Tiongson 6, Elorde 5, Buenafe 3, Sumalinog 2, Golla 2, Chua 2, Pessumal 0, Gonzaga 0.

NU 56 – Mbe 19, Javillonar 15, Parks 11, De Guzman 5, Rosario 2, Khobuntin 2, Alolino 2, Villamor 0, Rono 0, Betayene 0.

Quarterscores: 16-17, 31-33, 56-45, 70-56