Ateneo wins over UST for solo leadership

We got Long shotS!

The last time Kirk Long was hailed as the next Chris Tiu was when he sank the game winner in a game against the UST Growling Tigers three seasons ago. Unfortunately Kirk had some problems with his offense so he concentrated on defense and passed up a lot of great looks which eventually shattered his confidence. Back then in High School at Faith Academy, Kirk was the focal point of the offense of their team and everyone was so happy for him to don the blue and white until last year when he was quite smitten by the sophomore jinx.

Beam me up Scotty!

Today, the team that he pulverized with his last second shot just cant get over him as he scored 21 points as he led the fabled Ateneo Blue Eagles to an 80-70 win and solo leadership in the 72^nd UAAP Basketball Tournament. Just after the win, the UE Red Warriors shot the lights out in the big dome to score a whopping 87 -72 win over Ateneo’s co-leader, the Far Eastern University Tamaraws. This gives the Blue Eagles solo leadership with a 9-1 slate. The Eagles will meet the bottom half of the draw NU, Adamson and UP before their anticipated match against the FEU Tamaraws.

Inside Might

The high flying duo of Dylan Ababou and Khasim Mirza proved to be tough nuts to crack as both players scored heavily as the sloppy plays of the Blue Eagles and non existent defense gave the Growling Tigers a 60-58 lead going to the pay off period. That was the cue that MVP Rabah Al-Husaini needed to wake up from his slumber. AL-Husaini scored 10 points in the quarter as the Blue Eagles clamped down on the Tigers who shut down Ababou and Mirza. Both stars scored 2 and 4 points respectively in the 4^th quarter.

In the Nico of time again

If Kirk is the next Chris Tiu, then the next inside presence for the Blue Eagles is Nico Salva who scored 11 points, his fifth straight game in double figures.

ATENEO (80)

Long 21, AL-Husaini 14, Salva 11, Jai Reyes 11,Baclao 10, Salamat 7, Austria 5, Golla 1, Tiongson 0, Monfort 0, De Chavez 0, Chua 0, Buenafe 0,

UST (70)

Ababou 19, Mirza 18, Maliksi 11, Camus 8, Teng 4, Aytona 3, Afuang 3, Fortuna 2, Bautista 2, Ungria 0, Greene 0

Quarterscores: 20-17, 36 -39, 58 – 60, 80 - 70