UAAP: Eagles edge Tams for solo lead

The Ateneo Blue Eagles leaned on their veteran smarts in the fourth period to snag a come-from-behind win against the FEU Tamaraws, 74-71. The Eagles found themselves down for most of the game, before their old reliables Keifer Ravena and Ryan Buenafe sparked a run early in the fourth to take control of the game for good.

The Tamaraws held a slight edge at the end of the first period, 21-18, as FEU coach Bert Flores let Anthony Hargrove and Arvie Bringas take the fight to the shaded area. RR Garcia started the second quarter with back to back jumpers to give FEU a seven point lead, 25-18. The Tams had their largest lead at 12, 35-23, before a Tiongson trey and a Slaughter split from the line had Ateneo cuttting the deficit to 10, 37-27, at the half. Back to back hits by Buenafe coupled by a pair of threes from Juami Tiongson cut the lead to three, 43-40. An Elorde three trimmed the lead to one, 46-45, but FEU would string six straight to put the Tams ahead by seven, 52-45. The Eagles went on to end the quarter with a 4-1 mini-run to head into the final period only down four, 53-49. A Hargrove jumper opened up the fourth, but Ateneo unleashed a deadly blitz through Ravena, Buenafe, and Nico Salva. Salva's one-hander from Buenafe put Ateneo up by one, 56-55, with 7:48 remaining. FEU continued to be bothered by Erram's presence, as the Blue Eagle big man efficiently manned the paint with Slaughter, limiting the Tams not just on the offensive, but in the rebounding department as well. Five straight freethrows from Ateneo gave the Eagles their largest lead, 69-60 with 1:08 remaining. Bringas countered with a three at the other end to bring the lead back down to six with 54 left. After a split from the line by Buenafe, Garcia wasted no time and hit another three to bring the lead down to four with 41 seconds to go. Salva hit two freethrows with 39 seconds remaining to bring Ateneo up by six, 72-66, as Hargrove committed a crucial turnover in the ensuing play, stepping on the baseline to award the possession to Ateneo yet again. A Ravena split from the line put the Eagles up seven, with Garcia hitting again from inside with five seconds remaining to cut the lead  to five. Another split from Ateneo put the lead back up to six, before a buzzer-beating heave from Tolomia from beyond half court settled the final score, 74-71. Aside from logging a respectable effort on the boards, the Tams had problems with their fouls and their three-point shooting. The Morayta-based squad was also slapped with 20 fouls- two of them usnportsmanlike- which allowed 37 trips to the line for the Eagles. With the Ateneo big men shadowing the shaded area, FEU resorted to long-range bombing, but had a success rate of only 28%. Slaughter topped the game with 17 points, eight rebounds, and five blocks, followed by Tiongson and Ravena with 12 each. Garcia flipped 21 in a losing cause, followed by Hargrove with 12 of his own. With the win, Ateneo now holds the top spot in the standings with a 6-1 win-loss card, while FEU drops to 5-2. BOX SCORES: AdMU – Slaughter 17, Tiongson 12, Ravena 12, Buenafe 10, Salva 6, Erram 6, Sumalinog 3, Chua 2, Gonzaga 0, Golla 0 FEU – Garcia 21, Hargrove 12, Romeo 10, A. Bringas 10, M. Bringas 7, Belo 6, Pogoy 3, Sentcheu 0, Cruz 0, Mendoza 0 QUARTER SCORING: 18-21, 27-37, 49-53, 74-71