Photo by Benjo T. Beringuela

THE NINE-GAME winning streak of the Ateneo Blue Eagles came to an abrupt end as the defending champions bowed down to the University of the East (UE) Red Warriors, 79-77, on September 6 at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.

Poor three-point shooting and poor ball handling came back to haunt Coach Norman Black and his boys as they suffered their second defeat in their five-peat campaign.

The Blue Eagles did not quite get into its usual rhythm early on, shelling out turnovers and putting up botched shots. Lucky for them, the Warriors were wasteful with their chances, only converting off an early Gene Belleza three at 9:26 to take them up 3-0.

Kiefer Ravena finally got things going for Ateneo with a layup with 8:25 in the first quarter, but the Red Warriors scored four unanswered through Adrian Santos and Belleza, giving UE a five-point cushion by 7:10 at 7-2.

Eventually, Ateneo found their touch with some easy looks at the basket and bridged the gap with UE. After Greg Slaughter tied the scores up at 8-8 with five minutes to go, the Blue Eagles took the lead through Ravena 30 seconds later to gain Ateneo’s first lead, 10-8.

This sparked a 9-2 run by the Katipunan-based squad to conclude the quarter. Justin Chua scored back-to-back baskets and Tonino Gonzaga then split his charities to end the quarter at 19-10.

UE got another early three pointer care of Belleza, but Gonzaga canceled it out with his own three with less than nine minutes remaining. A minute later, Ravena managed to take the Blue Eagles’ advantage to double-digits, 26-16.

Despite this, the Red Warriors went on a 9-0 run to reduce their deficit to just two, 26-24 with 5:44 to go. As well as getting into the penalty early on, the Blue Eagles struggled to get their shots to go once more. With just over three minutes remaining, Chris Javier evened the score at 29-29.

After scrappy play and some missed shots, Gonzaga restored Ateneo’s lead with a three. However, a Santos conversion and another Belleza three handed the Red Warriors the momentary lead with 1:25 remaining.

After Nico Salva tied the score, Slaughter rose to the basket and gave Ateneo the advantage once again with 17 seconds left. UE had no answer as the clock ran down to end the half 34-36.

UE took the early lead in the third quarter through Javier’s four points. From then on, the game was a tight encounter. Loose ball handling, turnovers and poor shooting left Coach Norman Black shaking his head in disappointment.

However, UE just could not take advantage of the Blue Eagles’ off day. Ravena furthered the Blue and White’s lead with a pull-up jumper to peg the score at 44-40 with 5:06 left.

The Blue Eagles initially found it difficult to penetrate UE’s pesky 2-3 zone, but eventually discovered ways to get to the basket through excellent ball rotation.

Thanks to a solo effort by Slaughter, the 7-footer sank six straight points to give his team some good leverage, 53-47 with 1:39 in the third quarter. However, the Red Warriors answered with six straight of their own to tie the game with 14 seconds to go.

With the clock running down, former King Eaglet Ravena sank a three to beat the buzzer that put the defending champions up going into the final quarter, 56-53.

Coach Boycie Zamar’s boys scored early into the quarter once again, care of JR Sumido’s three that once again equalized the score, 56-56. They would get ahold of the lead through yet another Belleza three at 8:40 to make 61-60.

An eight-point stretch from Ateneo moments later regained the Blue and White’s advantage with less than six minutes to go at 68-63, until Belleza sank his fifth three of the game to put the Red Warriors to within a couple points.

Slaughter restored the Blue Eagles’ advantage at 71-66 with 3:44 to go, but Roi Sumang’s three with over two minutes to go once again took UE to within two, 73-71.

Juami Tiongson then put Ateneo up four, but a 6-0 run in the closing seconds saw UE on top with just 20 seconds remaining, 77-75. As the seconds ran down, Ravena equalized for the Blue and White with seven seconds to go care of a follow up shot off a miss that rattled into the basket.

In their final play of the game, UE found big man Javier near the baseline, who nailed the mid-range jumper as the clock stopped at 0.04 seconds. With no more timeouts left, Ateneo had one last chance to get the ball into the ring, but Tiongson’s Hail Mary shot was no good.

The law of averages prevailed as Ateneo’s woes from beyond the three-point line returned after their big win against La Salle, making just 3 of 17 (17.6%). Their opponents, however, were deadly as they made 8 of 18 (44.4%).

The Blue Eagles had a bad day at the possessions department, giving 20 away. UE took advantage of Ateneo’s errors with 23 turnover points, in contrast to just 12 for Norman Black’s men.

Slaughter still managed to put up big numbers for the Blue and White, making 24 points coupled with 15 rebounds. Ravena also did his part with 15 points and 7 rebounds.

Belleza tallied a career-high 28 points with 5 of 8 shooting from three-point land, while Sumang and Javier both scored 15 points. The former dished out 10 assists, deviating from his usual role as a scorer.

Despite the loss, the Blue Eagles still possess the solo first position, at 9-2.

Ateneo will try to avoid back-to-back losses against the Adamson Soaring Falcons at 2:00 PM on Sunday, September 9 at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.

Updated 12:32PM, September 9, 2012.

Box scores:

Ateneo 75 – Slaughter 24, Ravena 15, Chua 11, Gonzaga 9, Tiongson 8, Salva 6, Golla 2, Buenafe 2, Sumalinog 0, Pessumal 0, Elorde 0

UE 77 –Belleza 28, Sumang 15, Javier 15, Santos 11, Sumido 7, Duran 3, Villarias 0, Olayon 0, Hernandez 0, Galanza 0