Photo by Mario T. Dagdag
FOLLOWING A shocking defeat at the hands of the UE Red Warriors, the Ateneo Blue Eagles squeaked past the Adamson Soaring Falcons, 79-72, after trailing behind for most of the game on September 9 at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
Despite garnering another win to strengthen their hold on top spot, the Blue and White once again struggled in keeping the ball. Surprisingly, they also had difficulty on the defensive end.
Adamson came off strong in the first 40 seconds, taking an early 4-0 lead thanks to Jansen Rios and Jericho Cruz. The Blue Eagles then went on a 6-0 run, taking a 6-4 lead at 8:10 after Nico Salva’s layup. This was Ateneo’s sole lead in the half.
Eric Camson’s subsequent three-pointer would spark an 11-2 run for the Falcons, giving his team a five-point advantage with six minutes to go, 13-8. Salva then scored back-to-back baskets, which cut the Blue Eagles’ deficit to just one. However, Camson would drain another three with over three minutes to go, stretching Adamson’s lead to four, 16-12.
The teams then traded baskets from thereon, thus keeping the advantage with Coach Leo Austria’s boys. Kiefer Ravena managed to bring Ateneo to within one with under a minute to go, but Camson once again sank a three to put his team up four, 25-21, to end the first quarter.
Adamson maintained the lead throughout the second quarter. The Ermita-based squad ballooned their lead by as much as six, which was rebuilt three times after attempts by Ateneo to regain the lead. After another Camson three, Adamson led Ateneo, 34-28 with just over six minutes to go.
One thing to note was that the Blue Eagles had difficulty getting through Adamson’s zone defense, which was also their problem in their loss to UE. Ateneo also had a number of 24-second violations, thus contributing largely to their turnover tally.
Juami Tiongson converted Ateneo’s first three-pointer of them game at 3:22, to pull Blue Eagles to within one point. Rodney Brondial then scored to increase the lead to three, but Nico Elorde sank another three that leveled the score at 36-all with two minutes remaining in the first half.
Ryan Monteclaro handed the Falcons the lead once again, but Elorde was there to equalize with 1:16 left on the clock. Ravena had a golden opportunity to hand his team the lead going into the break, but he uncharacteristically missed both his free throw attempts. Both teams went into the dugouts with an even score, 38-38.
At the restart, Ateneo was met with minimal resistance, and finally grabbed hold of the lead, 42-40, at the 8:18 mark thanks to Slaughter’s efforts in the paint. Despite this, Adamson was not done yet. Roider Cabrera knocked down back-to-back threes a minute apart from each other to give the Falcons a comfortable advantage, 49-44 with a little over six minutes remaining.
Ateneo attempted to battle back, but Camson kept his team on top by continuing his impressive offensive performance, answering the conversions of Salva and Slaughter. Ravena finally inched the Blue Eagles closer with a successful three-point play with less than four minutes left at 52-53. Slaughter then handed the Blue and White the lead once more, only for Cabrera to nail another three-pointer to put his team on top by two, 56-54, with 2:30 remaining in the third quarter.
The Blue Eagles only managed a point, care of Oping Sumalinog’s split free throws, while Monteclaro hit yet another three-pointer for Adamson with 1:08 remaining, the last basket of the quarter, 59-55. The final scenes of the quarter featured a scramble that left JP Erram on the floor with an injury. He did not return to play.
The Blue Eagles played catch up for the majority of the final canto, which bode signs of déjà vu of their loss to UE. Once again, Camson delivered for the Falcons with two big threes, one that handed Adamson the lead, 71-70.
After Camson missed two crucial free throws, former Red Cub Salva gave the defending champions the lead with three minutes to go. The next minute and a half featured free throws, with Ravena converting three of four and Adamson only managing one of two.
Salva delivered once again, capping off his superb fourth quarter performance with a cutting layup, that gave the Katipunan-based squad a five-point lead, 77-72, with 1:19 remaining. Seconds later, Ravena stole the ball and made the layup to make it 79-72 for Ateneo.
Despite the win, the Blue Eagles gave up the ball on 21 occasions, which was one more than in the game versus UE. Lucky for them, Adamson only made 14 turnover points.
Adamson sank 10 of their 22 three-point attempts, making 45.5% compared to just 2 of 8 (25%) for the Blue and White.
Meanwhile, the Blue Eagles were 63.8% from the field.
Salva finally got out of his slump, making 24 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists. Slaughter also contributed, tallying yet another double-double for the season, 16 points and 12 rebounds.
Camson scored a game-high 26 points on the other end, which included 6 of 10 shooting from three-point land.
“We executed a lot better this game,” commented Coach Norman Black in comparison to their game against UE, “but the biggest difference between the UE game and this game was probably our teamwork.”
“Every loss is a wakeup call,” added player of the game Salva, “it reminds us that we’re not there yet. We have to continue working, and we have to continue pushing to get the title.”
Having clinched their 14th straight Final Four spot, the Blue Eagles stay on top at solo first with a 10-2 record with two games remaining in their second round schedule.
The Blue Eagles face the NU Bulldogs next, at 4 PM on Thursday, September 13 the PhilSports Arena (formerly ULTRA) in Pasig City.
As of press time, Erram has been diagnosed with an anterior cruciate ligament tear. In an interview with the Philippine Star, Ateneo Athletic Director Ricky Palou confirmed that Erram would not be returning to play this season.
Box scores:
Ateneo 79 – Salva 24, Slaughter 16, Ravena 15, Elorde 10, Chua 6, Tiongson 3, Buenafe 3, Sumalinog 1, Erram 1, Gonzaga 0, Golla 0
Adamson 72 – Camson 26, Cruz 14, Cabrera 10, Monteclaro 8, Brondial 8, Rios 4, Etrone 2, Trollano 0, Patilos 0, Agustin 0
