The two birds of prey that have been dominating the skies in UAAP Season 74 suffered contrasting fate in yesterday’s Final Four as the Ateneo Blue Eagles booked a return trip to the finals while the Adamson Falcons got stymied on their end.
Back on track after dropping its last elims assignment, top seed Ateneo outclassed a tough University of Santo Tomas side, 69-66, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum to stay well on course for their four peat aspirations.
No. 3 Far Eastern University, however, bared plans of disrupting a projected “Battle of the Birds” finale, trampling the No. 2 Falcons, 59-49, to force a rubbermatch for the second finals berth on Sunday.
“I think we did a good job of bouncing back. Our defense held up for the most part except for their three-point shots in the end game. And now we’re looking forward to the next game,” said Ateneo coach Norman Black, now waiting for their finals rival.
Black missed his obligatory trip to the media room the last time Ateneo saw action, absorbing a shocking 46-62 setback to Adamson to see their bid for a 14-0 sweep and outright finals stint foiled.
“Our message to the players before the start of the UST game was to recover from the mistakes we made against Adamson. That time, we did a very poor job of helping out on defense and covering up on the offensive board. Offensively, we also wanted to share the ball more,” Black said.
Cranking up on defense and crashing the boards, the Eagles seized control from the second quarter on, storming to double-digit leads that reached as high as 48-33, halfway through the third canto.
But the Tigers fiercely fought back in the fourth, turning to their three-point shooting to go to within one, 66-67 with still five seconds left.
Nico Salva then canned his two charities to set a fresh three-point cushion for AdMU, 2.7 ticks left.
UST went to Jeric Fortuna in the last play but the veteran guard (3-of-14 FGs) missed his potential game tying trey, ending the season for the overachieving Tigers, whose comeback bid was hurt by two botched fastbreak tries in the heat of their rally.
“We had control of the game for the most part but in the end they took the three point shots and that’s really their strength. Luckily, our defense held up, actually our transition defense because they had a couple of chances at fastbreak points that we’ve stopped,” said Black.
Playing with their backs against the wall, the Tams jumped the gun on the Falcons, racing to a whopping 52-32 upperhand through three quarters.
Alex Nuyles anchored AdU’s final stand, firing 10 of his 20 points to put the Falcons to within 49-56 but FEU held on, gaining from Cris Tolomia’s split and Terrence Romeo’s basket to secure the win.
“I asked the players if they already want to take a vacation and they said no. So they responded by playing good defense and sharing the ball more,” said FEU coach Bert Flores, whose wards held AdU to 17-of-64 (26.6 percent) clip and ace guard Lester Alvarez to only five points.
Notes: UST coach Pido Jarencio doesn’t consider his wards’ Final Four run as an “overachievement” since “the goal was to make the finals.” But he has good vibes for the team that will remain intact in 2012 and will welcome back Clark Bautista and Aljon Mariano plus two new recruits.
We just don’t know if I’ll be back, that’s up to management,” he said…The double-header drew a combined attendance of 24,828 (9,454 for the Ateneo-UST first game and 15,374 for the FEU-Adamson second game). Adamson suspended afternoon classes to encourage its students to root for the Falcons.
(source: Phil Star)
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