UAAP: UST returns to Final Four, ends Ateneo's title defense

The University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers earned a measure of revenge on the Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles for the result of last season's Finals, eliminating them from post-season contention in Season 76 with an 82-74 triumph, Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Both teams entered the game with 7-6 records, but when the dust settled, it was UST that advanced to the Final Four, drawing the top-ranked National University Bulldogs. Ateneo on the other hand saw its streak of trips to the Final Four, which stretches back to 1998, snapped, as they settled for a .500 mark at 7-7.

[Review the play-by-play of this game here]

UST began the fourth with a big run to reforge their double-digit lead, 65-53, 7:02 left to play. They were still up big late, 75-62 with 2:34 left, but unloaded nine straight to get within four, 75-71, 52 seconds left.

A triple by Nico Elorde made it a three-point affair after Karim Abdul free throws, 77-74. But the Blue Eagles could not make further headway, and Jeric Teng closed things out with a 5-of-6 clip from the foul line to arrive at the final score.

“Mahirap talunan yung Ateneo kasi five-time champion yan,” said UST head coach Pido Jarencio. “I give all the credit to the players. Tinatanong ko sila kung magbabakasyon na ba kami. Sabi nila di pa. Lalaban pa raw kami.”

Karim Abdul led the Tigers with 25 points, nine rebounds, and five blocks but he did most of his damage in the first half. The second half of the game was all about King Tiger Jeric Teng returning to his old form. Teng scattered 17 points in the game, including eight in the fourth quarter to preserve the win for UST.

Kiefer Ravena opened the game by making a difficult fadeaway jumper but Karim Abdul scored two straight baskets to give UST a 4-2. The game was physical early on as two double fouls were called. The first was on Chris Newsome and Aljon Mariano. The second also featured Newsome but this time against Kevin Ferrer. Newsome then committed his third foul of the game at the 6:24 mark of the first with UST leading 6-5.
 
The Tigers stretched their lead to five at 12-7 after baskets from Kevin Ferrer and Jon Sherif, but Ravena scored his seventh point of the first to cut the UST lead down to three.
 
A basket from Abdul gave the Tigers a 19-13 lead, but a free throw from Nico Elorde at the 2:04 mark trimmed his side's deficit down to five. Abdul added another basket underneath followed by two fast break layups from Ed Daquioag for a 25-14 UST lead to end the first quarter.
 
Von Pessumal started the second quarter by sinking a corner three. Ryan Buenafe then scored his first basket of the game to get Ateneo within six at 25-19. Ferrer and Abdul retaliated with a 8-0 run to build a 33-19 buffer with four minutes left in the second period. Jeric Teng added to their run with two jumpers to bring UST's margin to a mighty 18 points.
 
The Eagles ended the first half well though by cutting UST’s lead somehow to 13 points at 39-26
 
With the Ateneo bigs struggling, Abdul dominated the first half by scoring 19 points and grabbing five rebounds. Frank Golla and JP Erram had a hard time defending the UST import, such that Buenafe was even tasked to man him for a time. Ferrer added six points while Teng, Sheriff, and Daquioag added four points each.

Ateneo on the other hand was led by Ravena at the half with nine points while Pessumal added eight. The Eagles failed to get points from their front court rotation with Newsome playing only four minutes due to foul trouble. The defending champs submitted a paltry 24.1 percent shooting clip from the field while allowing UST to make 45.2 percent of their attempts. ADMU also did not help themselves by having 12 first half turnovers.

“Grabe yung first half namin. Aggressive kami,” said UST head coach Pido Jarencio. “Pero may tendency talaga kaming mag-relax. Nag-relax kami kaya nahabol kami.”

The Blue Eagles went on a 10-0 run to start the third quarter, storming their way back into the ball game. Ravena started the run with a layup and Buenafe ended it with a put-back at the 7:03 mark. A triple from Teng stopped the bleeding for UST, canning a triple at the 5:13 mark.
 
Ravena returned to the game to score a floater, followed by a triple from Buenafe to bring Ateneo within a point of UST. Newsome, absent in the entire second quarter, gave Ateneo a 43-42 lead at the 3:26 mark with two free throws. With the game tied at 45-all, Ravena banked in a triple to give Ateneo a three-point lead but Daquioag made two free throws to bring it down to a single point.
 
Ateneo was then unable to hang on to the lead entering the final canto, as they gave up an and-one play from Aljon Mariano, for a 52-51 UST tally, heading into the final quarter.

“Kahit papano may chance tayo para bumalik ng Finals," Jarencio added. “Alam kong mahirap kasi number one team ang kalaban natin pero pagdating sa Final Four pare-parehas na lang yan.”

That semifinals match-up will take place on Sunday, also at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.

Ateneo played this game without head coach Bo Perasol, who was serving out his UAAP-mandated suspension after being in the venue for their second-round encounter versus the UE Red Warriors. Next season, the Blue Eagles will have to reload without graduating players Frank Golla, Ryan Buenafe, and Juami Tiongson, three-fifths of their starting line-up, plus reserve big man JP Erram. - AMD, GMA News


The scores:

UST 82: Abdul 25, Teng 17, Daquioag 13, Ferrer 10, Mariano 7, Bautista 6, Sheriff 4, Pe 0, Lo 0, Lao 0

Ateneo 74: Ravena 20, Newsome 13, Elorde 12, Buenafe 9, Pessumal 8, Golla 4, Erram 4, Tolentino 2, Tiongson 2, Capacio 0
 
Quarter scores: 25-14, 39-26, 52-51, 82-74