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Ateneo Blue Eagles

October 1, 2011 by · Comments Off on Ateneo Blue Eagles 

Ateneo Blue EaglesAteneo Blue Eagles, The greatness of signs and the Ateneo responded again. Sharp and determined, the Blue Eagles overwhelmed the Far Eastern University Tamaraws, 82-69, on Saturday to complete a sweep and the capture of an historic fourth straight championship UAAP men’s basketball.

“I do not know how long it will last so we want to take advantage of it while we have the talent,” said Ateneo coach Norman Black. “We expected a good year and got one.”

Talent was abundant for the Eagles this season with phenomenal rookie duo of Greg Slaughter and Kiefer Ravena veteran team led by Nico Salva, Kirk Long and Emman Monfort.

The delivery of new when it really mattered, the Eagles took the fire of Tamaraws in the second half and wrapped the best of three series in dominant fashion in front of a crowd of 18,423 packed the Araneta Coliseum smart.

MVP

Save captured the award for Most Valuable Player after averaging 19.5 Finals Points flat in percent shooting clip-78 notables and 5.5 rebounds per game.

It comes from a perfect game for a trip, Salva shone again with 15 points, including four consecutive points the Eagles got rolling at the start of the second half.

“The last three years we have worked very hard for the championships,” said Salva, 6 feet forward and 4 contained in the four titles romp Ateneo. “This is no different. We have worked very hard every day. We have worked harder that’s why we’re here.”

Salva, who hit all his attempts for a game high 24 points in the 82-64 to the Eagles’ Game 1 victory, also took five rebounds, a pair of assists and was a robbery in the title decider.

“He has the ability to be able to deliver only the time which is crucial when it comes to the championship. He has a tendency to offer only,” Black said Salva.

Elite Club

The victory moved the Eagles to an elite club teams with four consecutive titles, including his arch rival La Salle (1998-2001), University of Santo Tomas (1993-1996) and league record at the University of East (1965-1971).

“To put a championship series where you can really convince follow the same types of giving their best every game, every year, that’s what it really boils down to,” said Black.

Ravenna, who copped the Rookie of the Year plum and was also nominated for the mythical delivery team-a team with 18 points, six rebounds and a pair of assists.

“I just want to end it on a good note,” said the son of former Philippine basketball player Bong Ravena Association. “We wanted to get the best out of our lives. Everyone wanted to win.”

Slaughter, currently the tallest player in the league to 7 feet, again and again the intimidating presence in the paint to finish with 11 points, six assists, two rebounds and a block.

“I could not even process all, I’m so happy,” said Slaughter, the Filipino-American who traces his roots in Cebu. “They’ve been waiting for this. I am happy to enter this program. They took me with open arms, it worked and here we are with a crowd of four.”

It was not just the team of stars who have clicked on the bank also increased in key sections that helped the Eagles go for up to 19 points, 74-55, entering the final four minutes.

Tiongson Juami strong performance led Ateneo with 11 bench points and two rebounds in just 10 minutes of action.

Of the FEU, which was a repeat of trouble last year, where the Eagles also swept the Tamaraws in the best of the three title series.

Braking

“They played well,” said FEU coach Bert Flores succinct championship team that had their number all season.

Aldrech Ramos, mythical team member this season, paced the Tamaraws with a game with 20 points and 13 rebounds.

MVP of last year, Garcia RR, also had 16 points for the Tamaraws, who dropped all four games against the Eagles this season.

But it was a final where the Eagles still held, according to Black, as the Tamaraws even led 36-35 by half.

“From a technical standpoint, I was really trying to hold on some things, especially in our pick-and-roll plays,” said Black, who joined Pumares Francisco De La Salle, UST Aric del Rosario and Dalupan EU baby league list of coaches with multiple titles.

“The reason we do not want that (Tamaraws) to read and adjust at halftime. It really helped us a bit in the second half because we were able to get the ball in the back in the message area.”

The Eagles came out with a load of 14-2 to take the lead, 49-38, late in the third period.

The tightening of the defense, the Eagles held on to the double-digit lead in Ravenna, Monfort, Slaughter and Salva also joined another salvo in the last quarter, which led by as many 76-55.

Combination

“It’s a combination of having good players, young and old, of good. Guys who have the experience and want to win the championship, that’s the most important,” said Black.

“We talked about it all the time if you are at this level, you have to try to fight for something. For us, we just want to be known as the best college team in the country.”

The scores:
ATENEO 82 Ravenna 18, Salva 15, 11 Slaughter, 11 Tiongson, 9 Monfort, Gonzaga 6, length 5, 5 Chua, err 2, Pessumal 0, Sumalinog 0, 0 Golla, Austria 0.
FEU 69-Ramos 20, Garcia 16, Tolomia 7, 7, Romeo, Escoto 4, 4 Bringas, Exciminiano 4, Foronda 3, Cruz 2, Noundou 2, Pogoy 0, Mendoza 0, Knuttel 0.
Quarters: 23-18, 35-36, 57-45, and 82-69

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