Eagles ward off Archers, eye twice-to-beat

MANILA, Philippines - Ateneo gave rival La Salle a dose of its own medicine, rallying from a double-digit deficit to emerge victorious, 73-62, and keep its hopes for the twice-to-beat advantage in the Final Four alive last night in the UAAP Season 78 men’s tournament at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The Blue Eagles choked the Archers to only nine points in the third quarter as they turned the tables around after trailing by 10 in the early goings and never relinquished control en route to avenging their 76-80 setback to DLSU in the first round.

More importantly, the third-running Ateneo cagers picked up their ninth win in 13 outings and moved a game behind No. 2 Santo Tomas (10-3) in their own race for the semis bonus.

AdMU likewise added to the woes of La Salle, which found itself suddenly out of the Top 4 with their seventh loss in 12 outings. Embattled defending champion National U overtook DLSU at fourth after hiking its record to 6-7 via a 75-69 verdict over University of the Philippines in the first game. (Story on Page 23)

“I think this is a good way to cap our tumultuous week,” said AdMU coach Bo Perasol, referring to the “emotionally-draining” episode brought about by Chibueze Ikeh’s arrest and detention last Wednesday.

“Because of what happened, we were emotionally drained the past few days and it’s a good thing that we somehow settled down.”

It wasn’t all about vengeance against the Archers, Perasol stressed, but opening the possibility of forging a playoff for No. 2. This would happen if Ateneo hurdles University of the East next week and the Tigers would fall to Adamson in their last game.

“Ateneo versus La Salle is always big. Although we just got one mark in our win column with this, what’s important is we’re giving ourselves the chance to catch up with the league leaders,” he said.

Von Pessumal (17) and Kiefer Ravena (15) led scoring for AdMU but Perasol emphasized the huge lift provided by subs Aaron Black and Adrian Wong, who chipped in 13 and 10, respectively.

La Salle suffered its third straight setback but can still contend for the No. 4 by beating UP and leader Far Eastern.