Twice Over

By Ian Brion
Business Mirror
September 10, 2007

Ateneo has beaten De La Salle twice, and the Blue Eagles now have the twice-to-beat incentive in their eyes.

Chris Tiu sank a triple with 17.8 seconds left—and Rico Maierhofer’s potential game-tying lay-up came a tad too late—to lift Ateneo to a nerve-wracking 89-87 squeaker over its bitter-rival in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 70 men’s basketball tournament yesterday at the filled-to-the-rafters Araneta Coliseum.



More than gaining the bragging rights in the country’s most colorful school rivalry, the Blue Eagles also bolstered their chances for a return stint into the finals and a shot at the title they last held in 2002.

It was the Loyola-based dribblers’ ninth win in 13 games, putting them in a tie with their victim at second spot, just behind unbeaten University of the East (UE) Red Warriors. The No. 2 team at the end of the double-round eliminations gets a twice-to-beat advantage in the Final-Four.

The Red Warriors already own the No. 1 spot with a 13-0 record across their names and could go into the finals outright if they beat the Green Archers on Tuesday.

“It’s a hard-fought game,” said coach Norman Black, “and it proved that we are really the better team.”

“Now, we can focus on our game against NU [National University], which we must win, otherwise, this victory would be nothing,” added the multititled veteran mentor.

A win by the Blue Eagles over the Bulldogs on Saturday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium would assure them of at least a playoff for the No. 2 spot. They can clinch the twice-to-beat bonus outright if that triumph would be coupled by a Green Archer loss to the Red Warriors on Thursday.

Tiu, christened as this season’s King Eagle, finished with 19 points on seven-of-11 shooting, including four from beyond the arc, to lead Ateneo, which is going to its ninth consecutive semifinals appearance, the longest active streak in the league.

The veteran sweet-shooting guard scored the game’s first five points that led the Eagles to a 13-3 lead, before foul trouble put him on the bench which the Archers took advantage by quickly uncorking a 15-2 run to seize the driver’s seat they would hold most of the way.

The Taft-based squad led by as many as 13 points before Ateneo got the better of a furious trade of baskets. Eric Salamat’s three-pointer with 4:51 left knotted the count at 75-all—and the sellout crowd of close to 14,000 braced itself for a cardiac finale.

“Our defense let us down in the first half. Good thing our offense was good, but in the end it was again our defense that gave us the win—that stop we made in the last seconds,” explained Black.

A triple by Yuri Escueta gave Ateneo an 86-84 advantage with 1:04 to go. But De La Salle got the lead back on a three-point play by Jayvee Casio eight seconds later. After an exchange of dry possessions, Tiu, who also drilled in the marginal basket in their 80-77 overtime victory in the first round, made the heroic shot.

The Green Archers had a chance to send the game into overtime and even win it, but Maierhofer’s putback off Casio’s missed floater was nullified by the game officials after a replay showed that the ball was still in his hands when the buzzer sounded.

In the first game, University of Santo Tomas (UST) trounced Adamson, 74-62, to assure its title-retention bid of at least a playoff for the last Final-Four slot.

Sophomore slotman Jervy Cruz displayed another Most Valuable Player (MVP)-worthy performance, scoring 24 points and hauling down 18 rebounds to lead the Growling Tigers, who broke loose from a so-so start to notch their eighth win in 13 games.

They can advance to the next round with a win over Far Eastern University on Thursday also at the Big Dome.

UST even has a shot at the twice-to-beat advantage.

If the Espana-based dribblers win their final elimination match and Ateneo and La Salle would lose theirs, a three-way tie for no.2 to no.4 spots would ensue involving the three squads. UST holds superior quotient over the two.

“Hindi namin iniisip yan. Basta kami ipapanalo namin ‘yung last game naming, bahala na kung saan man kami dalhin nun pagkatapos,” said coach Pido Jarencio.

The Falcons succumbed to their 12th loss against a lone victory for a record only better than the University of the Philippines (UP) Fighting Maroons’ 0-13.