Eagles too tough against crippled Scorpions

MANILA, Philippines — Cignal-Ateneo played up to its lofty billing as the heavy favorite, throwing the full might of its superior strength and firepower to crush Centro Escolar University, 101-66, in the opener of the 2019 PBA D-League best-of-five finale at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan.

The Eagles pounded and pummeled the eight-man CEU squad without letup and without mercy on the way to posting the most lopsided victory in D-League finals.

Game Two is at 4 p.m. Tuesday over at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig.

“We knew that they’re playing with an eight-man crew so we just made sure not to take them for granted. We made sure that there’s no room for complacency on our side,” said Ateneo deputy Sandy Arespacochaga.

“We knew entering this game that they’re coming off a tough series against St. Clare. We had more rest so we made sure to take advantage of that,” added Arespacochaga whose wards came from a week-long layoff after sweeping Valencia City Bukidnon-SSCR in the semifinals.

After a slow 7-10 start, the Blue Eagles erupted for 47 points the rest of the opening half to run away from the Scorpions with a commanding 54-31 lead.

Even then, Ateneo stayed relentless as the Eagles even ballooned the gap to as many as 39 points, 76-37, midway through the third period.

Versatile big man Isaac Go bannered the Blue Eagles’ balanced attack with 17 points on 4-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc on top of four rebounds while Thirdy Ravena came up with 15 markers and seven boards – both in just 17 minutes of action.

Save for Jason Credo and William Navarro, all other 11 Ateneo players scored, including SJ Belangel with 12 points that went with four assists.

The crippled and fatigued CEU side just didn’t have an answer to the firepower of the Blue Eagles especially with just a one-day break coming from an exhausting three-game semis series with St. Clare College-Virtual Reality.

Senegalese big man Maodo Malick Diouf racked up 21 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and four steals in a losing effort for the Scorpions who have been playing with just eight guys since the quarterfinals after the involvement of their other eight personnel on game-fixing allegations.

Jerome Santos and skipper Rich Guinitaran were the only other bright lights for CEU with 13 and 12 markers, respectively.