The
first half of the “Angry Birds”
clash has been introduced with the Ateneo
Blue Eagles outlasting the UST
Growling Tigers, 69-66.
Why
Ateneans... WHY!!!!!
Ahem.
As if
this result shocked people. Like I said, the last thing Ateneo wants after
scoring 13 consecutive wins are three straight losses. UST put on a gallant
fight but in the end, the stronger team prevailed. The Eagles had a lead as
high as fourteen points in the third quarter and if it wasn’t for the Tigers’ freak
outside shooting spree, the lead would have been really bad for UST. Except for
Karim Abdul, almost all of the UST
players gained form only in the last salvo. Ateneo will have the chance to join
the Growling Tigers as well as the La
Salle Green Archers as the third team to win four straight titles during
the UAAP’s Final Four Era.
Greg Slaughter was outplayed by Karim Abdul
at the start of the game but bounced back to lead all scorers with 17 points. He
also had 8 rebounds and 3 blocks for the finals-bound Eagles. Kiefer Ravena and Nico Salva combined for 25 points to back up Slaughter. Justin Chua, who averaged 4.8ppg, had 9
points for the Eagles and ably came through with the bad scoring night of Kirk Long and Emman Monfort.
Abdul
topscored the Tigers by unleashing 11 of 16 points in the first quarter and
also finished with 16 boards, 2 steals, and 2 blocks. Chris Camus banged in 13, Jeric
Teng had 11, Kevin Ferrer had
10, and Jeric Fortuna had 8.
UST
had a chance to send the game into overtime but Jeric Fortuna’s three-point
shot missed with 2.7 seconds left.
Oh
well.
By the
way, here are the names of those who won the Finals MVP award since the UAAP institutionalized it:
2001 – Renren Ritualo – DLSU
2002 – Larry Fonacier and
Wesley Gonzales – Ateneo
2003 – Arwind Santos – FEU
2004 – Macmac Cardona – DLSU
2005 – Arwind Santos – FEU
2006 – Jojo Duncil – UST
2007 – JV Casio and Cholo
Villanueva – DLSU
2008 – Nonoy Baclao – Ateneo
2009 – Rabeh Al-Hussaini –
Ateneo
2010 – Ryan Buenafe – Ateneo
Incidentally,
Kiefer Ravena is the Finals MVP of the
2009 and 2010 UAAP Juniors Championship.
Ateneo
is sure as hell the top dog going to the Best-of-three finals showdown. Whoever
wins in Adamson and FEU’s do-or-die game on Sunday must be prepared against a
well-rested flock of monsters.
Better
luck next year for UST and good luck to Ateneo.
Game
over!
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