Eagles whip Lions to rule FilOil Flying V cagefest

The colossal tussle between the country’s two premier collegiate squads happened on Independence Day at The Arena in San Juan. When the smoke cleared, the blue and white colors of Ateneo proved to be more dominant than the red and white of San Beda as the reigning Grand Slam champion Blue Eagles tamed NCAA champs Red Lions, 75-56, to rule the Filoil Flying V Preseason Premier Cup. Fil-Am center Greg Slaughter produced a double-double while Juami Tiongson, rookie Kiefer Ravena and Kirk Long came through with crucial baskets to power Ateneo to its first-ever crown since this preseason tournament began in 2007. "We're happy we won the Filoil tournament since it was our first time. We did discuss it before the game, that we want to win this tournament," said multi-titled Ateneo coach Norman Black. Black, however, downplayed this win, saying that the ultimate goal is still to capture the UAAP tournament, which begins next month. "I wish we could celebrate this championship, but the ultimate goal now is to win the UAAP," said Black, who also had steered Ateneo to the 2008 Nike Summer League crown and 2010 Father Martin Cup titles. Slaughter showed a lot of promise for the Eagles, who try to capture their fourth straight UAAP crown. He finished with 14 points and added 11 rebounds in yet another double-double effort while Tiongson came off the bench to score 13 points in 17 minutes. Ravena, named as the tournament Most Valuable Player, had 12 points while Long added 11 markers. Ateneo led by as high as 19 points four times, including the final score. A triple by Tonito Gonzaga with eight minutes left in the second quarter put the Eagles up, 33-14. But San Beda, led by Garvo Lanete, Dave Marcelo and Nigerian Ola Adeogun, slowly came back. A 13-3 run the rest of period put them only behind by nine, 36-27, at the half. Marcelo hit inside to put the Red Lions within five, 40-35, 7:53 remaining in the third, but the team never came any closer from there. Back-to-back lay-ups by Long and Nico Salva plus a split from the foul line by Bacon Austria gave Ateneo a 54-41 lead at the end of the third period. In the fourth period, Eman Monfort scored a teardrop as Ateneo matched its biggest lead, 67-48, 5:36 to go. "This is probably the best game we played the entire summer and I think we picked the best day to play well," said Black, whose team lost the other day to National University in the semifinals of the Father Martin's Cup. Lanete led San Beda with 17 points and four rebounds, Marcelo nearly had a double-double, tallying 12 points and nine rebounds, while Adeogun made 10 points and 11 rebounds. The Red Lions played without American center and reigning NCAA Most Valuable Player Sudan Daniel, who injured his knee against Ateneo in the tournament opener. Earlier, Far Eastern University secured third place in the seniors division, beating Adamson, 65-57, while San Beda captured its second straight juniors plum with a 79-70 victory over the Energen Pilipinas U-16 team. - RCJ/KBK, GMA News