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| Nico Salva throws it down as the Eagles rout the Bulldogs for win # 13. (image by Philip Sison/Fabilioh.com) |
AdMU Blue Eagles over the NU Bulldogs, 61-39
The NU
Bulldogs, despite all the hype and preseason success, have not been able to
hold a candle to the defending champion Blue Eagles this season.
Instead of
looking fierce and rabid, coach Eric Altamirano’s wards have looked tamed and
caged against the Blue & White.
And it’s a
little ironic, too, since it was NU who beat the Eagles in last year’s Unigames
Finals and eliminated the Eagles in this past summer’s Fr. Martin’s Cup. By all
indications, Ateneo was supposed to have a helluva difficult time against Ray
Parks and Co.
It was,
however, the other way around in the teams’ first meeting this season, and,
save for a tight 1st canto, it was pretty much the same yesterday,
too.
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| Emmanuel Mbe and the Bulldogs relinquish their shot at a Final Four berth. (image from FullCourtFresh.com) |
The Bulldogs
were aggressive out of the gates, quickly setting up an elbow jumper by Parks
to kick off the scoring. Emmanuel Mbe and Gelo Alolino had some nifty inside
stabs, too, as the Sampaloc five took the initiative.
It didn’t
take too long, though, for the Ateneans to find their bearings and turn the
potential barnburner into a sleeper. Wunderkind Kiefer Ravena hit 7 straight to
help the Loyola quintet take the lead at 1st quarter’s end, and then
coach Norman Black turned up the heat in the 2nd and 3rd
periods to get the necessary separation.
The Dogs
couldn’t really get anything going in the middle 2 stanzas, where they made
only 16 total points, while allowing Ateneo to score 42 of their own. Bulk of
the credit goes to the defense on Parks (read: Kirk Long), who may have hoisted
14 shots, but made good on only 3. The rest of NU’s regular reliables didn’t
fare too well either –Mbe, Alolino, Jeoff Javillonar, and Jul-Ashri Ignacio all
combined for just 12-of-35 from the floor. All in all, NU had their lowest
scoring output of the season, and, to my recollection, since 2004.
And there’s
really just one word for that, right?
Lockdown
defense.
And what’s
the old sports saying about defense and championships?
Oops, let’s
get way over our heads.
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| Ray Parks fails to stop Greg Slaughter and the Blue Eagles from nearing a sweep of the elims. (image by Philip Sison/Fabilioh.com) |
Speaking of
“way over our heads,” that might sum up how NU’s season has unfolded. Maybe
they got in way over their heads? After the influx of capital (financial and
talent), the potential team of destiny has tumbled and crumbled into a team of
melancholy. There are a lot of things to talk about and change by season’s end,
but they’ll still have to go through DLSU and UST before they can even begin
the grilling.
On the other
side of things, the Eagles, at 13-0, are admittedly looking mighty fine for the
4-peat run. They’re getting closer, even as the pretenders start to fall by the
wayside. A sweep would be nice, and against the Adamson Soaring Falcons next
week, the chances are fair.
The key?
Lockdown.
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| The Eagles are still on a roll. Do you get the feeling that more is coming? (image by Philip Sison/Fabilioh.com) |
One BIG Fight!
AdMU 61 – Salva 14, Slaughter 13,
Ravena 12, Long 10, Gonzaga 6, Golla 4, Monfort 2, Austria 0, Sumalinog 0, Chua
0, Tiongson 0
NU 39 – Mbe 10, Parks 10, Javillonar 9,
Alolino 4, Ignacio 4, Neypes 2, Celiz 0, Villamor 0, Terso 0, Khobuntin 0, Roño
0
QS: 12-11, 26-19, 48-27, 61-39
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