The Ateneo defense
Adversity brings out the best in
everybody. That’s what feuls the drive
of the De La Salle Green Archers to end their three game losing streak against
the Ateneo Blue Eagles in the UAAP. The Green Archers did their homework on
defense as they constantly doubled the 7 foot Greg Slaughter in the first
quarter in every possession he had the ball.
Because of this adjustment, Slaughter constantly passed the ball and
gave the scoring opportunities to his team mates. Unfortunately, for the Green
Archers the rest of the Blue Eagles came to play and helped Slaughter score a
71 – 61 win to give the Blue Eagles their third win in Season 75 of the UAAP.
Juami on the drive
Just like in their previous three
games, the Blue Eagles started like a house on fire as Kiefer Ravena helped the
Blue Eagles race to a 20 – 8 first quarter lead. Ravena would score 10 first half points as
Slaughter eventually found a crease in the Green Archers defense a he
constantly challenged all the Archers big men who all came out of the first
half with two fouls each. Unfortunately
for the Blue Eagles, Nico Salva and Tonino Gonzaga’s offense was not there
since their mid range shots were not going in.
To compound their woes, the Blue Eagles relied on their defense as their
first five and second team thwarted the Green Archer’s comeback as the Men in Blue held on to a 36-25 first half
lead.
Greg on the line
Trading Places. Coach Norman Black saw something in the the
way former Green Archer Nico Elorde played and defended. Elorde is an
orchestrator and a prime defender in the mold of Tonino Gonzaga. He is now at ease backing up lead point guard
Juami Tiongson as he is slowly blossoming into the good point guard envisioned him to be. Mark
Tallo on the other hand was recruited by the Blue Eagles to succeed Eman
Monfort. Unfortunately, Tallo jumped ship even before Season 74 started and
went to Taft and is now one of the back ups of LA Revilla. Elorde played for 17 minutes scoring 3 points while
Tallo only two minutes with just a solitary attempt that did not go in. In two years look for the two to get heavy
minutes and battle it out again.
Kiefer on the drive
The Green Archers, proud and loud
once again overcame a 16 point lead by the Blue Eagles as they came back
through veteran LA Revilla and super rookie Jeron Teng. Revilla was unstoppable, scoring on lay ups,
jumpers and feeding the sensational rookie from Xavier. Luigi dela Paz completed the Archers amazing
run by scoring on a three point play to put the Men in Green ahead 45 – 44 with
three minutes left in the game. They say the only way to beat the DLSU defense
is to play better defense than them. Coach Norman Black eventually made
adjustments that eventually paid off. He put Tonino Gonzaga on the speedy LA
Revilla and Keifer Ravena on his Juniors National Team buddy Jeron Teng. These adjustments allowed the Blue Eagles to
come out with a 62 – 53 lead in the last five minutes which was more than
enough for the Blue Eagles to salvage the win.
Nico scores over Torres
Nico Salva scored a silent 16
points as his jumpers were off while he scored inside at the right time in the
foruth quarter. Greg Slaughter on the
other hand neutralized all the big men DLSU sent his way as he scored 20 points
and hauled down seven rebounds while Norberto Torres, Yutien Andrada, Arnold Van
Opstal, Papot Paredes and Ponso Gotladera scored a combined 15 points and 13
fouls on them. LA Revilla’s primary back
up Almond Vosotros never got his game going as Kiefer Ravena stole the ball
from him to score on an unmolested lay up while Slaughter sent the ball almost
to the stands in a monster block on Vosotros – the result air time for Tallo
and rookie Thomas Torres. These are just sidelights in the first Ateneo vs La
Salle game at the MOA Arena.
Kiefer pulls out
ADMU (71) –
Slaughter 20, Ravena 16, Salva 16, Chua 6, Tiongson 4, Buenafe 3, Elorde 3,
Pessumal 2, Erram 1, Gonzaga 0, Sumalinog 0.
DLSU (61) – Revilla
16, Teng 13, Torres N. 11, Dela Paz 7, Manguera 6, Andrada 2, Van Opstal 2,
Webb 2, Mendoza 1, Tampus 1, Gotladera 0, Paredes 0, Tallo 0, Torres T. 0,
Vosotros 0.
Quarter Scores:
20-8, 35-28, 53-50, 71-61
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