Blue Eagles soar again, foil Bulldogs' upset bid

Two-time defending champion Ateneo bounced back from a crushing defeat as it overcame a sluggish first half to demolish National University, 82-65, in the 73rd UAAP men’s basketball tournament on Saturday at the Araneta Coliseum. A week after a stunning 66-63 loss to archrival La Salle, the Blue Eagles played flat in the first two periods even as the Bulldogs erected a commanding 14-point lead halfway into the second quarter. But the Loyola-based squad quickly made adjustments to cut the lead to one at the turn (44-43). From there, veterans Eric Salamat, Kirk Long, Nico Salva and even reserves like rookie Art Dela Cruz and Tonino Gonzaga took charge to secure the victory. It was Ateneo's third victory in five games to forge a three-way tie with idle teams University of Santo Tomas and La Salle from third to fifth spots. "We played good defense but we can't shoot straight in the first half, but I told the boys to just hang in there and luckily we were able to hit some outside shots in the second half," said coach Norman Black. After struggling to make their shots from the outside, Ateneo somehow found an anecdote in the game, hitting 7-of-13 shots from rainbow country while capitalizing on 24 NU turnovers by converting it into 36 points. Salamat, who has struggled offensively coupled with a knee injury bothering early in this ongoing tourney, made 20 points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals to pace Ateneo's attack, while Long shot 4-of-4 from beyond the arc for 19 points, five rebounds and five assists. Salva tallied 14 points and six boards and Dela Cruz hit six points, four in the third period, while Gonzaga provided quality minutes despite registering just three points. Ryan Buenafe also came out with a solid production, grabbing four rebounds and dished out nine assists despite scoring just two points in 25 minutes. "We always talk about production on both ends and guys like Eric and Ryan, I hold them to a higher responsibility because they are the better players on the team and I expect more from them so I think they played well today. It's an understatement I guess," said Black. It was a disappointing loss for the Bulldogs, who came into the contest by forcing opponents to just 62.6 points behind their pesky defense. However, that notion all disappeared in this game even as lefty guard Kokoy Hermosisima muffed 12-of-18 shots from the field despite a team-high 18 points. Seldom-used Larry Malanday contributed 12 points hitting 4-of-9 from rainbow country, while Cameroonian big man Emmanuel Mbe had his third straight double-double with 11 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks. NU suffered its second straight defeat to remain in solo sixth at 2-4. The Bulldogs seemed headed for a momentous upset early on. The Sampaloc-based dribblers leaned on a good start to grab several double-digit leads. Hermosisima later scored with 6:43 left to hike their margin to 28-14 before Ateneo closed the period on a 19-6 run for a slim 34-33 at the half. – JVP, GMANews.TV