In the battle for second, the Ateneo Blue Eagles finally found a way to win a game late, inching past the Adamson Falcons 55-52 on August 29 at the Araneta Coliseum.

Giving up a comfortable lead late in the fourth and getting torched from thee point range, the Blue Eagles must have been getting flashbacks of Thursday’s disappointing loss to UE, but this time the late game heroics belonged to Ateneo as Nico Salva’s sweeping hook-shot and clutch free throws from Emman Monfort sealed the game for the Eagles.

The game got off to a shaky start as play was stopped at the 9:40 mark with officials calling for a switch of sides. Despite showing an inability to start the fast break, Ateneo executed offensively and managed to score at an efficient rate. Defensively, the Blue Eagles re-established themselves in the first, holding Adamson to 10 in the quarter.

In the second, the Ateneo defense held strong but the Falcons’ constant hounding of the ball forced the Blue Eagle offense to slow to a standstill managing a paltry six points in the period. Adamson forced the Blue Eagle offense into an uncharacteristic eight turnovers at the half, three on Kirk Long—who has been one of the league’s best at taking care of the rock this season.  Ateneo managed to hold off the Falcons, limping into the break with a one point lead, 22-21.

The second half began in controversy as Jason Escueta was called for a technical foul and thrown out of the game for wearing game shorts without the mandated UAAP patch.  The Blue Eagles were slow to recover from the loss of the big-man. Flat play after the subsequent free throws afforded the Falcons a 7-0 run forcing Coach Norman Black to burn a timeout.

The Ateneo response was unforgiving, blistering the Falcons with a 17-6 run led by the low post efforts of Ryan Buenafe who scored eight in the quarter.  With Adamson’s offense hamstringed by the foul trouble of Eric Camson, who picked up his fourth foul at the 4:31 mark in the third, the Falcons were limited to 13 points in the period, heading into the final quarter with a seven point deficit.

Early in the fourth, defensive forward Frank Golla went down to a knee injury limiting Ateneo to three rotation big men.  The combination of a hot shooting Alvarez, a streaking Alex Nuyles and a lock down defense did more than erase the deficit as Adamson bounced back to take a four point lead on Alvarez’s three pointer with four minutes remaining.

The game seesawed between the two teams as both teams traded blows; Buenafe’s low post scoring and free throws knotted the game at 48 at the 3:15 mark, but Alvarez split a pair of free throws to break the dead lock.  Emman Monfort broke free of his defender to hit a booming triple only to have Alvarez steal the momentum with a three pointer of his own.  Both teams came up empty on their next possessions until Nico Salva hit a hook shot to steal the lead back 53-52.

Jan Colina had a chance to push Adamson back into the lead but whiffed both his free throw attempts in the final minute.  Monfort’s free throws with 13.0 seconds remaining pushed the Ateneo lead to three.  With just seconds left in the game, Alvarez’s three point attempt clanged off the rim earning the Blue Eagles the hard-fought win.

“Ang hirap ng laro, [It was a hard game]” Ateneo Coach Norman Black said, commenting on the game.

“I felt they knew everything we wanted to do and knew how to defend it.  Good thing was we knew what they wanted to do as well.  It was a real scramble,” he added.

With a one week break, the Ateneo Blue Eagles hope to regain their stride when they face the UST Growling Tigers, September 5 (Sunday), 4pm at the Araneta Coliseum.

Author’s Notes:

Both Buenafe and Salva notched double doubles, with 12 rebounds a piece. On the same day, former Blue Eagles Noynoy Baclao and Rabbeh Al Husseini went first and second overall in the PBA Draft, both drafted by Air 21.  “That’s great.  Really happy for both of them, especially for Noy since he comes from such humble roots and for him to be able to make a living playing basketball, that’s great for his family.  Hopefully they come to practice tomorrow and treat us,” said Norman Black.

Boxscore:

Ateneo: 55- Buenafe 14, Salva 13, Long 10, Salamat 7, Monfort 7, Chua 4

ADU: 52- Alvarez 22, Nuyles 14, Lozada 6, Colina 3, Camson 3, Galinato 2, Manyara 1, Cabrera 1