The gut, the three-ball & endgame Magic
Ateneo 80 vs. UE 73
by rick olivares
Is there team that is more associated with the three-point shot than the University of the East? They breed three-point shooters in Recto. Surely you must have heard of Allan Caidic – the sniper non-pareil who continued to bombard foes from the outside all the way to the pros? To accentuate the it-comes-in-threes, Vilmer Bañares and Vernie Villarias complemented Caidic in UE.
And then there’s James Yap, the deadliest two-guard in the PBA today, who hit treys as if he were shooting free throws.
Now there’s Paul Lee with his fellow gunners James Martinez and Paul Zamar. Talk about triple threats.
Well, in basketball, as the saying goes – you live by the three; you die by the three... and by Juami Tiongson.
Quite a lot wondered why Magic was dubbed “magic” when he scarcely got off the bench let alone hit some big ones. But as I said in my Blue Eagles 2010-11 preview: Jai Reyes redux? Possibly.
But before Tiongson versus Chongson, the Red Warriors, despite their 1-5 record, came to play. “They always play us tough,” said Ateneo coach Norman Black. “It’s never pretty when the two teams play. We just had to gut out a win.”
The Warriors in six matches only led twice after the end of the first half – to UST and UP. They’ve had problems staying with teams. Against UST they suffered a power outage in the fourth quarter. Against La Salle, FEU, and Adamson, they likewise faltered in the second half.
Up against the Blue Eagles, there was extra motivation. “Kahit nawalan kami ng maraming players gusto namin patunayan na lalaban kami hanggang sa huli.” promised Red Warriors swingman Paul Lee. So they Recto squad took a slim 37-36 lead at the half. But that was more than enough to give them confidence.
“They are beatable,” said UE head coach Lawrence Chongson. “But so are we. We have to be tough and show that we are not afraid.”
The danger of letting a team like UE hang around was it gave their shooters confidence. When you consider that they have a knack for making them at opportune times and Ateneo’s defense took the day off then it was asking for trouble.
Without Frank Golla inside for long stretches as he was feeling ill, UE’s bigs – Sam Razon, Ken Acibar, and Ezer Rosopa -- had a field day inside. The trio combined for 16 boards and 9 offensive rebounds.
Ateneo gamely battled them as Eric Salamat (who seems to have finally found his rhythm), Justin Chua, and Art dela Cruz kept the Blue Eagles close. Said Chua who himself is rounding out to be the blue and white’s dependable slotman, “This past week, we practiced on our defense to let it dictate our offense. If we have a hard time scoring our plan is to make other teams have a hard time scoring as well.”
But UE was up despite shooting 38.9% to Ateneo’s 44.8%.
“We know they’re vulnerable inside,” noted Chongson who saw his side score 26 points inside the paint on a 56% success rate throughout the game.
In the second half, Ateneo continued to struggle but they hung tough. It was that sort of game as evidenced by Nico Salva’s jumpshot at the very of the 24-second shot clock to give the Blue Eagles a taste of the lead at 40-39.
But the Warriors already had their confidence going, they retook the lead and even led by seven (51-44 at the 3:31 mark of the 3rd Quarter) and by six (60-54 with 9:29 left to play in the 4th Quarter) following a trey by Lee.
Overshadowed by Lee in the past year because of the Red Warrior’s prodigious scoring exploits, Salamat, as Ateneo captain, finally strapped the team on his back as he fired two consecutive triples including a more conventional three free throws off a foul-arc attempt by Zamar.
Salamat’s barrage that leveled the score at 63-all was crucial because emboldened Ateneo and they started to execute their offense better. It gave Ateneo’s much maligned outside artillery some face. Barely a minute later, Emman Monfort faked off a three-point attempt while he ditched his defender after which he moved to a more comfortable spot at the apex of the arc where he rifled in a trey to put Ateneo on top 66-65.
After Kirk Long’s triple leveled the count for the last time 69-all with less than five minutes to play, UE’s responded in kind hoping to deal a knockout blow from beyond the arc, but Lucas Tagarda and Lee missed on their attempts.
Ateneo rookie dela Cruz faked off Rosopa for a deuce that Long padded for two free throws and a valuable 73-69 lead with two minutes to play. James Martinez missed from the fifteen-foot line then the game came down to Tiongson versus Chongson.
After some nervy moments earlier in the first round, Juami Tiongson found himself seeking advice from someone who knows all too well what he was going through as a former star Blue Eaglet who was struggling to make his mark with the senior squad. Tiongson, nicknamed “Magic” since high school for his penchant for no-look dime drops, asked Jai Reyes about his approach to the game and tips on making those baskets from medium and long range. Black himself saw the improvement in Tiongson who was shooting the ball better in practice and in perhaps a key move as any (such as La Salle using Simon Atkins more as a shooting guard), some plays were designed to give the second year player some room to knock down some outside shots.
Magic hit three treys against UP en route to 13 points, his UAAP seniors best.
And off a time out, he buried a no-hesitation jumper from 18-feet and another from the free throw line to give Ateneo a 77-71 lead with a minute left.
With 29 seconds left and the Blue Eagles still holding a four-point lead 77-73, Lee bumped Salva during an Ateneo inbound play. The referee whistled the UE guard for a foul. With the Warriors in penalty, that meant Salva was going to the line with a chance to put the game away.
In a game marked by spotty officiating on both sides of the court, UE thought that contact was incidental. Lee spread out his arms in disbelief as Lawrence Chongson knelt on the court in protest. The referee wasted no time in slapping the beleaguered Red Warriors coach with an “unsportsmanlike” foul.
Salva made one free throw while Salamat added another (from the technical foul) to close out the scoring at 80-73 in favor of Ateneo.
The Blue Eagles finished the first round of play at 5-2 to which Black remarked, “I wish we had a better record but I’ll take it.”
As his downtrodden 1-6 Warriors left the Philsports Arena under a torrential downpour, Chongson left with one thought on his mind, “We’re going to need a miracle.”
Ateneo 80 – Salamat 23, Salva 13, Chua 13, Long 10, dela Cruz 6, Monfort 6, Tiongson 4, Austria 3, Gonzaga 2, Escueta 0, Erram 0, Golla 0, Buenafe 0
UE 73 – Lee 16, Acibar 14, Razon 11, Reyes 11, Martinez 8, Zamar 6, Rosopa 4, Tagarda 3, Enguio 0
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