Blue Eaglets continue to roll
by rick olivares
The Ateneo Blue Eaglets kicked in
the afterburners in the second period to destroy UST, 78-54, to remain
undefeated in eight matches in the UAAP Juniors Division at the Filoil Flying V
Centre.
How did they get the win?
UST started out well (same as
they did in their first round encounter) with superb shooting from Jezreel
Villapando while playing with a lot of energy and a willingness to take the
game inside to the Eaglets. Villapando drilled two triples and a medium range
jumper to inspire UST.
Defensively, Ateneo didn’t close
down the shooters and gave the Tiger Cubs lots of space to make their shots.
Furthermore, after surrendering an early layup to Ateneo courtesy of a nifty
crossover by Joaqui Manuel for an all-alone layup, UST’s zone forced the
Eaglets to attempt three triples next time down the floor. And they forced
Ateneo into two 24-second shot clock violations.
Ateneo didn’t help themselves by
missing six free throws in the first period. However, they ended it on a
positive note as they played better towards its end despite being down 18-13.
If an opposing team wants to stop
Ateneo, they need to prevent them from running because they are dangerous in
the open court and a free-flowing game. SJ Belangel, Dave Ildefonso, Joaqui
Manuela, Jason Credo thrive in this kind of game.
It was also the entry of Credo
late in the second period (he didn’t enter right away as he had uniform
problems) that changed the game. He immediately spun around CJ Cansino for a
layup. Then he wreaked havoc on the defensive end. He stopped Villapando from
doing any more damage and gave CJ Cansino fits. Credo relishes the defensive
challenges and has more often than not taken on the opposing team’s top scorer.
A lot of this denial and tough D does not reflect in his personal stats.
As a whole, Ateneo turned the
game around on the defensive end.
Stats:
Steals 5 to UST’s 1
Blocks 9 to UST’s 0.
Defensive rebounds 45 to UST’s
28.
Their willingness to contest
UST’s shots saw the Tiger Cubs’ shooting drop from the high 30s in the first
quarter to 26% the rest of the way.
Aside from Villapando who was
held scoreless after the first 10 minutes of play, UST center Bismarck Lina
only scored 2 in the second half. Gunner Vince Dolendo also bled for points in the second half.
UST is also the top fastbreaking
team averaging averaging 18.5 a match. Ateneo held them to 4 points in their
match up.
Ateneo retained its status as the
top defensive team allowing only 55.6 points per game. That’s 17.4 points less
than the second-ranked squad Adamson’s 73.0 points allowed.
It was a tough loss for UST that
was looking to gain ground on NU after the Bullpups were docked a win for
fielding an ineligible player in their first game of the season.
NU earlier came from behind to
defeat FEU, 86-81. The Tamaraws folded down the stretch while the Bullpups
thrived in the endgame.
In other UAAP Juniors matches,
DLSZ crushed hapless UE (their lone win is due to the overturned loss to NU in
the first round), 93-74. The Adamson Baby Falcons also hammered UPIS, 76-58, to
close out the weekend matches.
Standings
Ateneo 8-0
NU 6-2
UST 5-3
FEU 4-4
Adamson 4-4
DLSZ 3-5
UPIS 1-7
UE 1-7
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