The Ateneo Blue Eagles promised only one thing – One Big Fight! A lot of Ateneans are one in saying that Fight is a word that conquers and indeed the Ateneo Blue Eagles conquered the mother of all battles as the Katipunan based squad showed why they are the top team in the land.For the second straight year, the Ateneo Blue Eagles topped the UAAP Eliminations and is now poised to go all the way to win their second title to duplicate their 1987-1988 feat. The Blue Eagles are three wins away in doing that as they showed that they can come back from the dead as they erased an FEU 18 point lead to beat the Tamaraws 74 – 73 and annex the top spot in the 72nd UAAP with a 13 -1 record – the third time the Blue Eagles have done that.
The Man Salute
Eric Salamat, Mr. Man Salute was at the forefront of the Ateneo offense as he scattered 20 points mostly in the second quarter and fourth quarter to make up for the lackluster play of MVP Candidate Rabah Al-Husaini. Rabah was hounded by foul trouble and had a hard time to get his game going, that was enough inspiration for the other Ateneo big guns to supplement Eric’s lead. The other veterans did not disappoint as Jai Reyes chipped in 13 points while Nonoy Baclao and Ryan Buenafe added 12 points each.
Blue Eagles Defense
The FEU Tamaraws once again started strong as they immediately seized the upperhand with a 22-11 lead after the first quarter. The Blue Eagles on the other hand came back in the second quarter mainly on Salamat’s exploits to cut the deficit of the tamaraws to three 35-32. Then the Tamaraws would explode once again in the third quarter as they erected a commanding 57 – 39 lead as the shooting woes of the Eagles continued.
Will Nico play next game?
In the fourth quarter, Jai Reyes came up with two crucial three pointers in the fourth period which was part of the initial 12-0 opening salvo of that helped the Blue Eagles get back on their feet. The Blue Eagles finally caught up with the Tams with 4:32 left as they seized the lead 62-61 and primed themselves for another nerve wrecking ending which resulted in an Ateneo win after Riel Cervantes muffed one of his two free throws with 2.1 seconds left that sealed their doom. Tams forward Paul Sanga led the FEU team with 19 markers while Aldrech Ramos ably backed him up with 16 points and 16 boards. Good luck to the Blue Eagles against the UST Tigers.
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Beam me up Scottie
The Scores
Ateneo (74)
Salamat 20, Reyes 13, Buenafe 12, Baclao 12, Al-Hussaini 7, Monfort 6, Long 4, Sumalinog 0, Salva 0, Chua 0, Austria 0.
FEU (73)
Sanga 19, Ramos 16, Garcia 8, Barroca 8, Cervantes 7, Cawaling 6, Tanuan 4, Knuttel 4, Vinluan 1, Caluag 0.
Quarter scores: 11-22, 32-35, 42-57, 74-73.
Ryan drives over Andy Barroca
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