Eagles escape first round tormentors, end elims on top

Kiefer Ravena threw an exclamation point dunk in the first half, Juami Tiongson erased all question marks in the third quarter, and Ryan Buenafe inked the period for the campaign of the Ateneo de Manila Blue Eagles in the elimination round of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines men’s basketball tournament.

Winning via a controversial three-point play by Buenafe, the Blue Eagles secured the number one spot going into the Final Four stage by escaping first round tormentors University of Santo Tomas (UST) Growling Tigers, 68-66, on Thursday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

After a fastbreak jumper by Karim Abdul with seven seconds to go to bring the Tigers in front, 65-66, Buenafe, driving quickly to his right, barreled his way against three Thomasian defenders to draw the foul from Kevin Ferrer and the potential go-ahead basket.

With the ball appearing to go down to the rim, Abdul blocked Buenafe’s shot and with confirmation from commissioner Ato Badolato, Buenafe’s lay-up was counted with the bonus free throw in.

Ateneo’s twice-to-beat advantage was validated after Aljon Mariano, playing lethargically for most of the game, muffed a potential game-winning trey at the buzzer.

“We played despite the pain,” Ravena, playing with cramps in the last two minutes, said after the game. “We simply avoided the unnecessary complication if we lose this game. We needed to grab the opportunity of having a twice-to-beat edge.”

It was a difficult game for the Eagles against the team coach Norman Black described as the biggest threat to their quest of a five-peat championship. In the first half, Abdul schooled the much taller Greg Slaughter in the paint while Mariano, despite being lackadaisical in the offensive end, limited the offensive output of the streaking Nico Salva.

However, a sensational fastbreak dunk by Ravena past the challenge of Abdul late in the second quarter signaled an impending Ateneo upsurge en route to the second half. And that upsurge was directed by point guard Juami Tiongson, who scored nine of his 13 points in the third quarter as the Blue Eagles jumped to a nine-point lead at the end of the quarter.

Unfazed, the Tigers climbed back and regained the lead via clutch shooting by guard Clark Bautista late in the fourth. However, clutch baskets by Ravena, Tiongson, and the clincher by Buenafe sealed the game for the Blue Eagles.

UST coach Pido Jarencio, despite accepting defeat, disclosed that the UST management will file a protest contesting the goal tending call against Abdul. “Hindi ko na iko-contest. Kilala niyo naman ako. ‘Pag talo, talo. Pero gusto ng management,” Jarencio said.

Ravena led the Blue Eagles with 18 points while Abdul led the Tigers with 22 points and 13 boards.

Ateneo topped the elimination round for the second straight season with a 12-2 record, losing only to the Tigers in the first round and the eliminated University of the East Red Warriors in the second round.

The Tigers, on the other hand, drop to solo third at 9-4 with the Red Warriors as their only remaining opponent at the final play date of the elimination round on Thursday.

Earlier, the Adamson University Soaring Falcons routed the Red Warriors, 89-69, via the torrid three-point shooting of Jericho Cruz, Roider Cabrera, and Eric Camson. Cruz led the Falcons with 21 points as the Marcelino-based squad improves to 3-10.