Ateneo's Slaughter earns UAAP's weekly honors

Ateneo's Greg Slaughter used his 6-foot-11 frame to literally stand out in a field of heralded rookies in the 74th UAAP men's basketball tournament. Slaughter, currently the tallest player in the league, helped the Blue Eagles stay undefeated in four games to earn the ACCEL-316 UAAP Press Corps Player of the Week. "We're the only team in the league with a seven-footer, so we really want to take advantage of that," said Ateneo coach Norman Black. Slaughter, a Filipino-American, averaged 16 points, 8.5 rebounds and two shot blocks in the Blue Eagles' two wins this week over University of the East and National U. In the highly anticipated Ateneo-NU match, the first game pitting star rookies Kiefer Ravena of Ateneo and NU's Bobby Ray Parks Jr., Slaughter grabbed the limelight by muscling his way to a team-high 15 points and seven rebounds in the Blue Eagles' 86-62 rout of NU on Thursday. Two days later, Slaughter finished with game-high totals of 18 points and 10 rebounds to power the three-time champions to a 73-61 victory over the Red Warriors. "The advantage we have is we could just drop the ball into the post to Greg," said Black. Slaughter, a University of Visayas transferee, currently leads Ateneo with averages of 15.5 points, 7.8 rebounds and two blocks per game. Slaughter edged other top performers this week, including Adamson's Janus Lozada and Alex Nuyles, Far Eastern University's Chris Exciminiano and La Salle's Luigi Dela Paz, for the weekly honor given by sports writers from various broadsheets, tabloids and sports websites. - JVP/HS, GMA News