The starters of the Blue Eagles all scored in double figures, while no one from the University of the Philippines (UP) side was able to hit twin digits as Ateneo coasted to a 77-57 win to stay unbeaten in the 74th University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) men’s basketball tournament on Saturday at the Araneta Coliseum.

Rookie Kiefer Ravena led the starting unit with 15 points, while Greg Slaughter and Kirk Long each had 14 for the defending champions, who dominated the last three quarters to go 5-0 in the tournament.

Emman Monfort had 13 and Nico Salva added 10 in a display of balanced attack by the Blue Eagles, who are now two wins away of sweeping the first round.

But if Ateneo’s offense was awesome, its defense was relentless, resulting to the lopsided win as every Fighting Maroon on the floor groped for his shots.

“We played very good defense especially in the last three quarters,” said Blue Eagles head coach Norman Black.

“UP played very good offense in the first quarter but we buckled down on defense in the next three quarters coupled by a bit of three-point shooting. We were one-of-17 in our last game [against University of the East] and we’re six-of-10 today,” he added.

The Fighting Maroons, behind Mike Gamboa, took a 21-19 lead after the first period and were even ahead at 29-27 before Ateneo finished the first half with a 15-2 surge to take a 42-31 lead going to the break.

After hitting 3-of-3 from the three-point zone, UP went 0-of-10 in the first half and finished 5-of-25 from the field.

The Blue Eagles were comfortably ahead at 62-43 early in the fourth when the Fighting Maroons unleashed their only run, an 11-0 blast, that cut the lead to 54-62 with 4:21 remaining.

But Long hit a triple, Salva a 17-foot jumper and Ravena a pair of charities in Ateneo’s decisive 10-0 surge to put the game out of reach, 72-52, 2:24 left in the game.

Rookie Michael Tolomia, meanwhile, rose to the occasion for Far Eastern University (FEU), shattering a 59-all deadlock with a big-time triple in the final 2.9 seconds mark off RR Garcia’s assist to lift the Tamaraws to a come-from-behind 62-59 win over University of Santo Tomas (UST) and claim the solo second spot with a 4-1 record.

The Tamaraws had to dig deep in their arsenal with Garcia and Aldrech Ramos struggling all game long. They had to bank on Tolomia’s winner to steal the game from the hard-lucked Growling Tigers.

UST, which absorbed its second-straight defeat after a 2-0 start, led by as many as 13 points, 28-15, and was still in command, 52-44, in the fourth period before the Tamaraws rallied with a 15-5 run for a 59-57 advantage with 41.9 seconds left.

Jeric Fortuna of UST knotted the score for the last time with a short jumper, 59-all, 24 seconds left.

source: Joel Orellana, Business Mirror