Blue over green again: Ateneo reasserts mastery over La Salle

Ateneo de Manila University played like champions against archrival De La Salle University in the blue and white's best game so far this season and romped home with an 81-65 triumph on Sunday at the Big Dome. Ateneo's fourth straight victory and eighth overall gave back the solo leadership to the Blue Eagles in the 72nd UAAP men's basketball tournament while sending De La Salle to its worst string of losses in the 11 years since Green Archers coach Franz Pumaren started mentoring the squad from Taft Avenue. The defeat was also La Salle's third straight this year, the first time that the Archers suffered such a setback under Pumaren, and their sixth straight against Ateneo dating back to last year's edition of the tournament. And for the first time too, the De La Salle team under Pumaren was relegated below the half-way mark of the standings as the Archers suffered their fifth defeat and are now in the fifth spot behind third place UE, which earlier downed Adamson U, and fourth placer UST. "No need to push the panic button," said Pumaren after the match which was watched by an overflowing crowd of 17,524, including US ambassador Kristie Kenney, who sat next to last year's Ateneo captain Cris Tiu. "We are still in contention for the final four," added Pumaren. "And based on my 11 years of experience as a coach, it is not impossible for us to achieve that." Pumaren also noted that Ateneo was prepared and determined in their second meeting this season. "We played bad and they played great," Pumaren noted. Ateneo coach Norman Black agreed, saying that this was the first time that Ateneo played consistently from the start until the final buzzer. "We started strong and finished strong," Black said. Ateneo barely won their first-round ending game against La Salle, 76-72, but the Eagles put up their best show on Sunday with Rabeh Al-Hussaini leading the onslaught with his 26 points, three rebounds, two assists, and three blocks performance. Al-Hussaini led the Blue Eagles' sustained attack in the first half, scoring the only double-figure point production, including an underneath stab that gave Ateneo a 44-27-lead before halftime. Nico Salva and Erik Salamat, who finished with 11 and 10 points respectively, also exploded in the first half, scoring eight and six points each even as Jai Reyes and Emman Monfort scored the Blue Eagles' two three-point shots in the first half. Slowing De La Salle's offense was its single three-point shot out of 14 attempts in the first half. Overall, the Green Archers shot just 33.3 percent in the first half while Ateneo zoomed ahead with a 58.6 percent clip from the field as the Eagles scored 17 times in 29 attempts. With a sizzling performance in the first half which they carried into the last period, the Blue Eagles were able to post a 23-point lead, 73-50, on Al-Hussaini's basket, with over three minutes left in the game. And when the smoke cleared after Ateneo's dominating victory, La Salle was found wanting in all departments. While Ateneo posted a 50.8 percent clip from the field as the Eagles made 32 of their 63 tries, La Salle could only post a mediocre 36.8 percent with the Archers converting just 25 of their 68 shots. Ateneo likewise won in the rebounding department, 41-39, even as the Blue Eagles scattered 22 assists against De La Salle's 10. Salamat accounted for eight of those assists, tying Lester Alvarez of Adamson, Paul Lee of UE and Jeric Fortuna of UST for the league's most number of assists in a single game this season. Ateneo had seven steals against La Salle's six. But both teams were tied in turnovers with 15 apiece. The Katipunan-based squad's defense provided the Eagles with more fastbreak opportunities and scored 21 points out of 17 attempts. La Salle scored a measly 11 points in 11 fastbreak attempts. Now Black wants his team to focus on their next matches and their title-retention bid. "I admit that there is pressure on the team and the coaching staff (against La Salle)," said Black. "Now that it is over, we can focus on our next matches." - GMANews.TV