Photo by Mario T. Dagdag
THOUGH THE outcome never seemed in question, the Blue Eagles nonetheless found a stiff test awaiting them in their 2009 UAAP Finals opponents: the UE Red Warriors.
Bagging their fourth consecutive win, Ateneo escaped with a 73-61 victory on the 23rd of July at the newly rebranded Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The talent differential between the two clubs seemed to keep the Red Warriors at bay and never was this clearer than the game’s two punctuating dunks. The first coming early in the opening quarter from the towering Greg Slaughter finishing a fast break with authority. The second dunk came with 1:25 minutes left in the game when Kiefer Ravena—putting the finishing touches on the rout—found himself alone on a break away, completing his first dunk in the UAAP.
Despite these two bookending dunks, the middle of the game was a scrappy affair filled with droughts—a four minute stretch at the start of the second—and runs.
The versatile game of UE’s Chris Javier often caught the more physically imposing Slaughter flat-footed, getting to the cup and exposing the former Cebu Webmaster on the drive.
But the seven-foot behemoth got to work in the second half, catching the ball lower in the block and imposed his will on his much smaller defender, backing him down for a short jump hook or finishing after a quick drop step. Slaughter would finish the game with a double-double that featured 18 points and 10 rebounds.
The Blue Eagles struggled to find their perimeter game, finishing one for seventeen from deep. Emman Monfort’s triple in the fourth helped the Blue and White save face.
“It was not a pretty game,” Ateneo coach Norman Black said. “No excuses, UE played very well. They played their man-to-man well and we couldn’t hit our three’s or our long two’s and we can attribute that to them.”
On Slaughter, he continued, “He’s our leading scorer and rebounder so he’s doing his job well. What I give Slaughter credit for is his buying into our system.”
With the win, the Blue Eagles race atop the standings at 4-0. They face their Katipunan neighbors, the UP Fighting Maroons, next Saturday, July 30, at 3:00 PM at the Big Dome.
Scoring Leaders:
ADMU, 73: Slaughter 18, Ravena 13, Salva 10, Monfort 9, Long 9, Tiongson 8, Erram 2, Chua 2, Austria 2
UE, 61: Zamar 13, Noble 11, Javier 9, Santos 7, De Leon 6, Sumang 5, Enguio 5 Chavez, 2, Taragda 2, Flores 1
Quarter Scoring: 16-14, 28-25, 51-39, 73-61
