Eagles clip Falcons, clinch Final Four spot

MANILA, Philippines -- Ateneo bucked off a flat start to thwart a hapless Adamson side hacking out a 67-52 victory in the 77th season of the UAAP men's basketball tourney at the Mall of Asia Arena on Saturday.

Kiefer Ravena paced the Blue Eagles with 16 points while Chris Newsome posted a double-double effort with 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Katipunan-based squad.

Ateneo improved their record to 10-3, to officially book a seat in the Final Four and improve their hopes of a twice to beat advantage while Adamson dropped to a miserable 0-13.

"I was apprehensive with this game because this is now our third in seven days. I really feel our energy was low but thankfully our defense kicked in the third quarter and early fourth quarter," said ADMU coach Bo Perasol.

Adamson was still within striking distance in the fourth period when Don Trollano cut the deficit to six, 35-41, with two free throws but the Falcons were called for a technical foul for delay of the game in the ensuing possession.

Ateneo pounced on the opportunity and unleashed a 15-0 run capped by Gwyne Capacio's triple to give the Eagles their biggest lead, 56-35, with 4:46 left.

Both teams almost traded blows the rest of the way and Ateneo held on with the victory.

Perasol shared his elation of getting a Final Four slot and believed they are well equipped to go all the way.

"Siyempre masaya at satisfied din but we agreed that we want to go all the way this year. It's going to be a tremendous task, it sounds cliche but if we believe, I think we can really do this," he said.

Ravena echoed the sentimets of his coach and egged his team to focus more to get their initial goal of grabbing the twice to beat advantage in the Final Four.

"Happy pero not satisfied. As a coach, I said we want to go all the way. We're one step closer pero yung goal talaga namin is to get the top two. We have to focus and step up more," said Ravena, the leading MVP candidate for the season.

Trollano was the lone bright spot for the hapless Falcons tallying a game-high 20 points.