THE BLUE Eagles notched their third straight FilOil victory after a 59-46 win over the revamped UST Growling Tigers, on April 30 at the San Juan Arena.
UST—now featuring Cameroonian Karim Abdul at center, guards Jon Sheriff, forward Kim Lo, and UAAP Juniors MVP Kevin Ferrer—played solid basketball for the first 20 minutes of regulation. This was until the Blue Eagles seized full momentum in the third.
Ateneo, who was without head coach Norman Black due to his coaching duties with PBA side Talk N’ Text, started Greg Slaughter, Frank Golla, Nico Salva, Kirk Long and Emman Monfort, while Abdul, Carmelo Afuang, Ferrer, Jeric Teng and Robin Tan started for the Growling Tigers.
Both teams struggled to find any offensive rhythm in the first. Abdul put the clamps on Slaughter, forcing Salva to take jump shots that fell short. UST drew contributions from a myriad of players except Abdul, who struggled to score inside with Slaughter guarding him. Teng had his shooting woes, missing all attempts in the first quarter. The quarter ended at 14-12.
Tonino Gonzaga opened the second with a three to make it 17-12, and Kiefer Ravena provided offense early in the second, scoring off drives and post shots. Ateneo’s lead ballooned to nine points as UST could not find an offensive response.
Midway through the second, JP Erram took on post duties for Slaughter. The reserve filled in nicely—grabbing offensive rebounds, swatting shots, and making an impressive slam that ignited the blue side. Erram’s dunk gave them the biggest edge of the quarter at 23-12.
The lead however was soon cut to two when Clark Bautista’s three consecutive triples opened the game for the Tigers. The momentum looked to be swinging to the España side, until rookie Ferrer missed a potential game-tying dunk.
Slaughter tried to stop UST’s run of points, converting two free throws, but another Bautista jumper pulled UST right back in. Abdul’s jump shot on their next possession would have tied the game at 27-all, but Ravena scored on a lay-up before halftime to give the Eagles a two-point lead at halftime, 29-27.
Salva would set the tone for the Eagles in the third, sparking a 10-4 run which featured an impressive put-back after a missed lay-up by Kirk Long who sank consecutive triples in that stretch. Baskets by Ravena and Gonzaga extended the lead to 15. The third canto ended at 46-31.
With UST fumbling with turnovers and missed chances, the Eagles would go on to defend the lead for the remainder of the game. The Growling Tigers got within ten after a goal tend violation on Ravena and another three by Bautista, but timely shots from Justin Chua and Juami Tiongson gave the Eagles breathing room in the fourth.
Though the Blue Eagles won quite comfortably in the end, their ball handling was jittery, committing an uncharacteristic 20 turnovers. However, they compensated with interior defense (56-50 rebounding edge, 5-0 blocking edge).
UST, with the exception of Bautista, struggled with open shots. Teng headlined their bad shooting night, sinking only one out of 11 attempts.
Gwyne Capacio, Von Pessumal and Oping Sumalinog all saw action in limited time for the Eagles. Long, Ravena and Gonzaga led the team in scoring with 10 points apiece. Tiongson scored seven points in seven solid minutes. Slaughter only contributed six points but grabbed 13 rebounds. For the España-based squad, Bautista scored a team-high 14 points, followed by Fortuna with 10 points and Abdul with eight points and 10 rebounds.
QUARTER SCORES: 14-12, 29-27, 46-31, 59-46
BOX SCORE:
ATENEO: Long 10; Ravena 10; Gonzaga 10; Tiongson 7; Slaughter 6; Salva 6; Chua 6; Erram 4
UST: Bautista 14; Fortuna 10; Abdul 8; Ferrer 6; Teng 4; Camus 4
