My colleague, Jonas Terrado of the Manila Bulletin remarked that Ateneo's high-scoring offense resembled the Phoenix Suns. Norman Black, satisfied with the 102-95 win over a hard-fighting and luckless Emilio Aguinaldo College Generals, had a chuckle. "Yeah, and we play defense like the Phoenix Suns." Everyone laughed. You know it's good when you're able to laugh at your mistakes.
Yet not since the 2006 Ateneo Blue Eagles did we have a team this prolific on offense. On the sidelines, we were wondering if they'd crack a hundred points again. At the end of the first half, we knew they would as the score stood at 60-45. It was good yet bad. Before the 45 points of the opponents would be their third quarter score.
The simple explanation why the Blue Eagles have not been sparkling on defense is that they've been playing four games a week and instead of practicing and correcting their defense, they can only prepare for the next game. But Norman expects them to correct all that when they leave for the US next week for more training.
The two teams are on opposite ends of the standings of Group A of the Fil Oil Invitational Tournament. Ateneo heading into the match was 5-1 while EAC was 0-4.
The Generals nearly upended fellow NCAA foe Arellano U but they folded up in the final minutes of play. On this day, they were pumped up to play Ateneo. Well, everyone is pumped up to play the Blue Eagles. And EAC, with Nomar Isla once more on the sidelines taking over from Gino Manuel, they were hoping for a king-sized upset.
Even if Ateneo raced to a 20-point lead in the 3rd quarter, somehow EAC was hanging tough. The porous perimeter defense allowed penetrations by Argel Mendoza, the former San Sebastian Staglet who rode the bench while Ryan Buenafe starred. Mendoza actually played his best game of the tournament scoring a game high 22 points. Said Norm, "JP Erram was helping everyone on defense but no one was helping JP. That has got to change."
At the end of the 3rd Quarter, the blue and whites held an 84-65 lead. Four minutes and 13 seconds later, the Generals dropped an 18-0 bomb to nearly overhaul the lead at 84-80. But Nico Salva, who has been playing well of late, ended the drought with a jumper inside the lane to give Ateneo some breathing room. The timeout earlier by Black allowed Ateneo an opportunity to compose itself. Salva basket was crucial for Ateneo once more found its groove. Skipper Eric Salamat chipped in a free throw. Salva added three more points while Emman Monfort hit a booming triple to wrest the momentum once more Ateneo's way.
During that searing rally by EAC, things got pretty hairy with the game turning physical. Russell Yaya, hit Kirk Long on the arm with a karate chop that elicited a howl of pain from the American. As a teammate of Yaya's was taking as free throw, Long was staring daggers at Yaya. "What do you want?" asked Long while Yaya snickered. On the next play, the two traded elbows prompting a double foul call. On Ateneo's next offensive, Long hit a trey to make it 96-85 Ateneo. He followed that by picking off a pass by an EAC player that Monfort converted for a deuce.
On EAC's next offensive, Yaya drove from the arc but Long trying to swipe the ball, hit Yaya on the face (no call and I have a picture of it). Long capped his endgame heroics with another triple to notch the score at 101-95. Monfort added a free throw to end the scoring.
How did EAC comeback? Well, according to Gino Manuel, they just said to try and bring it down to 10 then they'll see from there. They were to clog the lane to prevent Ateneo from getting out on the break as they gave another clinic in the first half. And it worked. Not only did they discombobulate Erram and company but they began to drive and find players underneath when Ateneo doubled.
This game was something Ateneo needed. They carved out a name for themselves by winning a lot of close games and this one was no different.
Good win! And nice to see Greg Slaughter watching his new team from behind the bench.
Ateneo 102 - Salva 17, Monfort 16, Long 16, Erram 12, Austria 11, Salamat 11, Escueta 6, Buenafe 6, de la Cruz 4, Tiongson 3, Gonzaga 0
EAC 95 - Mendoza 22, Lowell Yaya 20, Cubo 14, Russell Yaya 13, Vargas 11, Lapitan 7, Chiong 4, Dolanto 2, Santos 2
Updated Fil Oil Invitational Standings
Group A
Ateneo 6-1
DLSU 3-1
UP 3-2
SBC 2-1
AU 2-2
CSLJ 1-3
UPHSD - 0-2
EAC 0-5
Group B
JRU 4-1
FEU 3-1
AdU 3-1
SSCR 3-1
UE 3-2
RP U-18 2-4
NU 0-2
CSB 0-2
MIT 0-4
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