PCCL: Eagles foil Webmasters to enter finals

Forget about a dream showdown between reigning grandslam champion Ateneo and NCAA king San Beda. People hoping for a much-awaited finale between the old rivals Blue Eagles and the De La Salle Green Archers should also stop wishing now. The stage is set for an unlikely yet interesting best-of-three championship match between the Eagles and the Adamson Falcons in the Philippine Collegiate Champions League. The Eagles whipped the University of Cebu Webmasters, 74-54, in their Final Four encounter Tuesday at The Arena in San Juan. Junemar Fajardo created match-up problems for the Eagles in the low block as the 6-foot-9 slotman came away with 30 points and 15 rebounds. But the Eagles were able to stop the rest of the Webmasters, and Fajardo didn’t get the support he needed in his team’s most critical game in this nationwide collegiate event. Four Ateneo players led by Eman Monfort finished in double figures. Monfort scored 15 points, grabbed seven rebounds and dished out seven assists in a solid all-around performance. Justin Chua chipped in 12 markers coming off the bench. Eric Salamat and Nico Salva each tallied 10 apiece. Ateneo, the tourney's defending champion, shoots for its third crown in the last four years. The Blue Eagles won the 2007 edition, then topped the event again last year. Fajardo was a match-up nightmare for Ateneo. By the end of the first half, the promising slotman from the south already had a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds. But the Eagles concentrated on stopping the rest of the Webmasters. "You never want one player to explode on you. He got 30 points, but we got the win. That was really our game plan — to stop the other guys — since he was very hard to contain,’’ said Black. "Containing him was easier said than done. He is 6-foot-9 with tremendous skills," he added. No other Webmaster finished in double figures, a testament to the Eagles’ solid defensive game. Ateneo raced to an early 13-point lead, 36-23, in the latter part of the second period, but UC still managed to trim it to 29-36 at the break. It was a competitive third frame for Fajardo, who kept the Webmasters in the game all by his lonesome. He scored nine in the third to keep UC within striking distance. In the fourth period, Fajardo began to slow down as he was limited to six points while Ateneo started the period with a 12-4 run to stretch the lead to 15, 62-47. The Eagles were never seriously threatened from there. - KY, RCJ, GMANews.TV