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| Emman Monfort and the rest of the Blue Eagles remain untouchable at the top of the heap. (image by Alyson Yap/Fabilioh.com) |
AdMU Blue Eagles over the UST Growling Tigers
At the end of the 1st quarter, the UST Growling Tigers managed to score a paltry 6 points. Worse than that? They committed 8 turnovers.
You see, anytime a team finishes a whole period – 10 full minutes – with more turnovers than points, that is ALWAYS a bad thing.
And how did they start the second quarter? Yep, how did you guess? Another turnover.
In all, UST committed 22 turnovers, just 2 more than Ateneo, but coupled with anemic shooting (from everywhere!) and the Eagles’ superior team play, it seemed like the Tigers were injected with some sort of tranquilizer. They were just never in this one.
Never.
Yes, Jeric Teng managed to fill up the stat-sheet and Karim Abdul had a monster double-double, but their two main guys, Jeric Fortuna and Chris Camus, didn’t really do much. The duo combined for 7 points (all by Fortuna), 7 rebounds and they shot 3-of-21 from the field. The whole España team shot just 26% from the field, 17% from three-land and 56% from the line. Just plain terrible.
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| Kevin Ferrer and the Growling Tigers couldn't get anything going from long range. (image by Joseph Nebrida/Inboundpass.com) |
And what was going for Ateneo? Pretty much everything. Nico Salva started the domination in the first half. Kiefer Ravena revved it up in the 3rd period. Justin Chua cleaned house in the last 10 minutes. They doubled UST’s assists total, had more blocks and shot a scorching 90% from the stripe (and that’s out of 31 attempts mind you).
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| Nico Salva, once again, was Ateneo's top man on offense. (image by Alyson Yap/Fabilioh.com) |
Once they got an ample amount of separation late in the first stanza, the Eagles never looked back. And the Tigers simply couldn’t make a dent, make a run, or make a comeback. In a way, the Blue & White were just untouchable in this match, and the Black & Gold could do nothing to prove otherwise.
Despite the loss, and what an awful loss, UST still has a fair chance of securing a semis slot. Their game against the Archers on Thursday will be critical, and the Tigers ought to pounce on DLSU’s wounded pride then. The upset-conscious Warriors lay in wait on Sunday – an opponent coach Pido Jarencio cannot afford to underestimate.
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| Jeric Teng and UST tumble down to 4-wins and 5-losses. (image by Joseph Nebrida/Inboundpass.com) |
Meanwhile, here’s the rub for Ateneo’s foes: Ravena has been consistently stellar, Slaughter, Long and Monfort don’t have to score big for Ateneo to win, and Salva and Chua are humming. Ateneo is on the ascent, and any team would be hard-pressed to stop them. UE, however, will try their hand on Thursday, and everything goes out the window as the Green Archers try to spoil the party on Sunday.
One BIG Fight!
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| Justin Chua showed great form in scoring 18 points to pace the Ateneo bench. (image by Philip Sison/Fabilioh.com) |
AdMU 82 – Salva 20, Chua 18, Ravena 14, Monfort 8, Long 7, Slaughter 6, Gonzaga 3, Cipriano 3, Sumalinog 2, Erram 1, Golla 0, Tiongson 0, Austria 0, Pessumal 0, Capacio 0, Estrada 0
UST 57 – Teng 20, Abdul 12, Afuang 10, Fortuna 7, Ferrer 4, Lo 2, Vigil 2, Camus 0, Sheriff 0, Pe 0, Ungria 0, Tan 0
QS: 15-6, 40-22, 68-37, 82-57
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