Photo by Ralph Samson
The Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU) Blue Eagles clinched the Seniors’ second finals berth by whipping the Adamson University (AdU) Soaring Falcons, 68-55.
By: Geoff Latayan
Powered by their hot three point shooting in the first half and 40 minutes of shutdown defense, the defending back-to-back champions ADMU Blue Eagles chalked up their third consecutive Finals appearance by dumping AdU Soaring Falcons, 68-55, Sunday, September 19 at the Araneta Coliseum.
Emman Monfort, starting in place of Eric Salamat, drilled in 15 of his game-high 22 points in the first half to lead the Blue Eagles to their third consecutive Finals appearance, their fourth in five seasons.
The 5’6” guard out of Ateneo de Iloilo was hot from the start as he helped the Blue Eagles surge back from an early Adamson attack to gain the lead, which they never relinquished until the final buzzer.
Down early in the first quarter, 2-5, Monfort and starting forward Kirk Long teamed up by combining for 12 points in a 14-0 blast to catapult them on top,16-5, 3:25 remaining in the first quarter.
Adamson fought back, scoring seven unanswered points to trim the lead to four 16-12 but Ateneo picked it up, scoring six more to end the quarter, 22-12.
The San Marcelino-based Soaring Falcons slashed it again to four, 20-24, thanks to Eric Camson and Jan Colina’s eight point uprising but that would be the last time that Adamson would pull closer as Ateneo’s lead rose again to 12, 37-25 on back to back threes from Monfort and Salamat.
From then on, the more experienced Blue Eagles, who had their biggest lead at 60-39, never allowed Adamson to cut the lead to single digits to the sound of the final horn.
It was Ateneo’s third straight lopsided Final Four win, giving them a shot to go for three peat against finalist FEU, who smothered La Salle in overtime last Thursday, in a best of three finals showdown, Saturday, Sept. 25 at the Big Dome.
Monfort, who finished with seven rebounds, three assists and three steals, was supported by Long and Salva, who scored 13 and 11 points respectively.
Lester Alvarez led the Soaring Falcons with 11 points.
Five Keys
- Pocket Rocket explodes. Emman Monfort’s 22 point explosion was well enough to give Ateneo the Finals’ seat but aside from his offensive explosion, his point guard smarts, brought about by his Final Four and Finals experiences since joining Ateneo, proved to be the key factor. That separated him from the Adamson guard combo of Jerrick Cañada and Lester Alvarez, who just had their Final Four Baptism of Fire.
- Experience is everything. The last time that Adamson entered the Final Four was in Season 69, wherein they lost to the same team. Fast forward to Season 73. Ateneo, who had made it to the Final Four in between those seasons faced an inexperienced Adamson. First time jitters caught up with Adamson this time as they could not handle Ateneo’s Final Four-caliber defense and preparation.
- Teamwork really works. Ateneo’s pass-first mentality to find the open man netted them season-best average of 16.8 assists per game. Against Adamson, they were patient in finding the open man as they gave extra passes to confuse their rivals. As a result, 15 assists made Adamson dizzy all game long.
- Where is Alex? Visibly absent in this Final Four encounter was Alex Nuyles. After having a breakout season, averaging 12.4 points per game, Nuyles was terrible against Ateneo as he was limited to just four points on 2/9 shooting.
- Perimeter Murder. As both teams fought each other in the paint (Ateneo 26, Adamson 24) and free throw conversions (Ateneo 19, Adamson 18) Ateneo murdered Adamson in the perimeter, 23-13. Ateneo had a pedestrian 30 % perimeter accuracy (9/30) while Adamson was a wreck with 12.5 % on 5/40 shooting.
