FOR THE first time in the history of the FilOil Flying V Premier Cup, the Ateneo Blue Eagles booked a spot in the Final Four, defeating the Mapua Cardinals, 63-56, on June 6 at the San Juan Arena.
Bannered by the dynamic duo of Greg Slaughter and Kiefer Ravena, who both led the team in scoring with 13 points apiece, Ateneo bounced back from their weekend defeat to La Salle, exhibiting tighter defense and less turnovers—committing only seven as compared to 19 against their archrivals.
Nico Salva, Oping Sumallinog, Emman Monfort, Kirk Long and Slaughter kicked things off for the Blue and White, while Jason Pascual, Mark Sarangay, Kenneth Ighalo, birthday boy Yousef Taha, and Allan Mangahas started things off for the Cardinals.
Early on, baskets from Slaughter and Sumalinog gave Ateneo a 6-1 advantage, prompting the Cardinals coach to call an early timeout.
The timeout looked to have swung the momentum as Mapua went on their own run of unanswered points with back-to-back field goals and an and-one play to seize the lead.
A dunk from Slaughter evened up the score at 8-8, but it was the substitution of Ravena that gave the Blue Eagles some breathing room, the rookie phenom scored six of his 13 points in the latter part of the first. The quarter ended 16-12.
However, Ateneo’s offense took a dip in the second canto, with the Blue Eagles only managing to score only eight points.
It took a while for both offenses to warm up. Justin Chua started things off with a baseline jumper, but the Blue Eagles offense went cold afterwards, and they were unable to get any good looks.
Mapua only got their first field goal at the halfway mark. With Ateneo’s offense still struggling, the Cardinals were able to cover ground, eventually taking back the lead after a three by Mangahas.
Coach Norman Black then turned to Salva to get the offense going. At the half, the game was knotted at 24-all.
Things picked up in the third quarter as Black’s boys came out running, attacking the basket with an aggressiveness sorely missed in the first half. Long converted on a three-point play off a beautiful Sumalinog dish but the Cardinals would match them with each bucket.
Only when Slaughter found his groove—knocking down three field goals in the paint—did Ateneo extend their lead, 37-33. The Blue Eagles ended the quarter with six straight free throws and had a six-point lead, 45-39, heading into the fourth.
With the game suddenly more offensive and the baskets coming easier, Mapua kept the score close with hard drives and even feistier rebounding. All in all, the Cardinals grabbed 17 offensive rebounds, a majority of them in the fourth, and had 17 second-chance points.
Luckily for the Blue and White, their composure came just in time. With Ravena as floor general, Ateneo executed much better in the clutch. Chua scored six of his eight points in the quarter, though the Taha-lad Cardinals would somehow find a way to keep things close.
It wasn’t until Long’s dagger three—Ateneo’s first in 13 attempts—did the Katipunan-side start to breathe easy, 58-51, with a little over two minutes to go. The lead was never really threatened afterwards.
The game would end 63-56 in favor of Ateneo, which scored its final points in the form of free throws. Despite the routine win, Coach Black knows that they will have to play much better than they did today if they are to face an undefeated FEU squad in the semifinals.
A lone star for the Cardinals, Taha finished with a double-double, leading all scorers with 24 points and hauled down 22 rebounds. The Blue Eagles were more balanced, with four players scoring in double digits.
Ateneo will face the FEU Tamaraws in the Filoil Flying V Premier Cup semifinal round on Friday, June 10, at the San Juan Arena.
Quarter Scoring:
16-12, 24-24, 45-39, 63-56
Scoring Leaders:
ADMU – 63: Slaughter 13, Ravena 13, Long 12, Salva 11, Chua 8, Sumalinog 4, Monfort 2, Austria 0, Golla 0, Tiongson 0
MIT – 56: Taha 24, Pascual 9, Mangahas 9, Ighalo 7, Banal 5, Ranises 2, Nimes 0, Sarangay 0, Parala 0, Stevens 0, Cantos 0
