Blue Eagles rip Tams, soar to historic 4-peat

With their demolition of FEU, the Ateneo Blue Eagles of the Norman Black era have cemented their place in the pantheon of great collegiate dynasties. Ateneo used another decisive third-quarter rampage to wrap up their quest for a fourth straight championship, defeating Far Eastern University, 82-69, Saturday for a two-game sweep of the 74th UAAP men's basketball finals at the Araneta Coliseum. It also marked another frustrating attempt by FEU to unseat Ateneo. Last year, they lost to the Blue Eagles with a more powerful team. This year they reached the Finals via an upset over heavily favored Adamson in the Final Four. FEU battled Ateneo toe to toe throughout the first half before losing steam in the third period. Kiefer Ravena and Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) Nico Salva put the finishing touches to a historic feat during the third period as the Blue Eagles became the fourth team in the UAAP to nail four straight crowns. Black and his Blue Eagles now join the ranks of the Baby Dalupan-coached UE Red Warriors (1965-71), Aric Del Rosario's UST Growling Tigers (1993-96) and the La Salle Green Archers of Franz Pumaren (1998-01) as four-peat champions in the country's top men's collegiate basketball league. "It's just a combination of having good players and veterans, guys with championship experience, and players who want to win," said Black. "For us, we just want to be known as the best college program in the country." Ateneo used a dizzying array of fastbreak plays and a stonewall defense in the third period that turned a 36-35 halftime deficit into a 57-45 spread entering the final canto. The Blue Eagles outscored the Tamaraws, 22-9, in the third when they held the Morayta-based quintet to 3-of-16 field goal shooting. Ravena, the league's Rookie of the Year, tallied 18 points—10 in the second half—while Salva had 15 markers for the Blue Eagles. Greg Slaughter and seldom-used Juami Tiongson provided scoring support with 11 points each. "FEU started out playing physical but I told the players to keep their heads in the game but to move with quickness. We did a better job of moving the basketball in the second half," said Black. The Blue Eagles were installed as tournament favorites and many expected them to win a fourth straight time. They showed it throughout the season where they even came close to sweeping the elimination round dropping only one game against Adamson. "There were a lot of people saying that we can win it again this year because of Greg and Kiefer. So for me, I'm happy for the coaching staff that they supported me the whole year. Luckily,we have a very close coaching staff that is important in this business. And the most important is that players really respect us," Black said. Ateneo scored 12 unanswered points after FEU held on to a slim 38-37 lead early in the third to take a commanding 49-38 advantage. The Tamaraws slashed the Blue Eagles' lead to nine, 52-43, but there was no stopping the Blue Eagles as their bench also contributed to their cause with JP Erram draining a short jumper and Tonino Gonzaga hitting a three-pointer to push the lead back to 14 points with 49 seconds left on the clock. It was all over at that point as FEU failed to mount a serious comeback against Ateneo in the fourth. Graduating senior Emman Monfort made seven straight points including a triple followed by a Slaughter short stab for a 70-53 lead midway in the fourth. When Monfort fouled out, he blew kisses to an appreciative crowd that had often seen the smallest player on the team outhustle opponents. It was also the last game of starter Kirk Long, the son of American missionaries in the Philippines, as well as sub Bacon Austria. FEU's major threat came in the second period after overcoming a 10-point deficit with a 16-3 run for a 36-33 edge. Tiongson slashed FEU's lead by one with a jumper, 36-35, at halftime. Aldrech Ramos capped off his collegiate career with 20 points and 13 rebounds while RR Garcia had 16 points but failed to answer Ateneo’s onslaught as they were swept for the second consecutive time. The Ateneo gallery sensed that the Blue Eagles were on their way to history, chanting "four-peat, four-peat" late in the third period. At that time, the Katipunan-based dribblers were in full control of the game and enjoying a double-digit lead with still one quarter left to play. In front of the crowd after the game, Black was inevitably asked if a "five-peat" was now possible, with his top three players —Salva, Slaughter, and Ravena — returning. The normally poker-faced Black broke into a wide smile and said, "We'll just enjoy this one first."— JVP/HS, GMA News