Rival Ateneo, La Salle crush respective foes

WHATEVER PLANS OF AN upset the Maroons of University of the Philippines had yesterday were crushed with impunity early by a flock of soaring Ateneo Blue Eagles.

Ateneo stamped its dominance right in the opening quarter, ripping the game wide open there on the way to dealing the Season 71 hosts an 83-66 beating in the 71st UAAP men’s basketball competition at the PhilSports Arena.

Just like in the their previous wins, the Eagles turned to their strong inside game to build an early advantage. This time, though, it was much-hyped rookie Ryan Buenafe who took charge by pumping in 17 points to power the Eagles to their fourth straight triumph in as many matches.

“We’re quite happy that we took care of business today,” said Ateneo coach Norman Black. “We came in with a business-like attitude. We really didn’t want to stumble today, so we came in and played good defense.”

In the second game, La Salle overcame an early scare for a 93-69 triumph over winless National University to claim solo second at 3-1.

Peejay Barua came to the Archers’ rescue by knocking down 17 points in the first half—15 coming from beyond the arc—to turn an unexpected 12-21 deficit into a 46-36 advantage at the break.

“We had a flat start especially coming from a hard game against UST; aside from that, there’s the mid-term exams this particular week, so probably that’s why we were just sleepwalking in the first quarter,” said coach Franz Pumaren after the defending champions streaked to their third straight win.

“It’s a good thing Barua gave us a shooting clinic,” Pumaren added.

Barua, a veteran 6-foot-2 swingman, finished with a career-high 26 points built around a scorching 75 percent shooting clip from the field.

Biggest margin
Rico Maierhofer also came out big with 16 points on top of 13 rebounds, two steals and two blocks in just 16 minutes of action.

An 8-0 start in the third quarter gave the Archers a 54-36 margin that stretched to as many as 30 points, 87-57, late in the fourth period.

Rabeh Al-Hussaini contributed 13 markers and seven boards for the Eagles, while Eric Salamat added 12 points.

“Going into this game, there were a couple of things we wanted to do,” said Black. “We wanted to play them even on the boards, we know that’s really their strength.

“They’re a very good offensive rebounding team,” he explained. “We also wanted to control their perimeter shooting. That was really our focus. Offensively, we wanted to run as much as we could, get as many fastbreak points as we could.”

The 6-foot-2 Buenafe, a cousin of Coca-Cola rookie Ronjay Buenafe, unloaded 11 points in the third quarter to put the Eagles ahead by 18 points, 70-52.

“His performance has been speaking for itself,” said Black of last season’s NCAA junior MVP. “He’s a rookie but he doesn’t really play like a rookie. He plays with a lot of maturity. He’s a high-percentage player.”

Sizzling percentage
Hitting a sizzling 57.7 percent from the field in the first half, the Eagles took an early big lead at 43-29.

Buenafe, Al-Hussaini, and Jai Reyes combined for 13 markers in the opening minutes, 13-11, before Chris Tiu fired eight straight markers to give the Eagles their first double-digit advantage, 21-11, with two minutes left in the first period.

Salamat, who also contributed three assists and two steals, capped the decisive 10-0 run Tiu started to extend the Eagles’ edge to 23-11.

By the second half, the margin grew to 20 points at 74-54 as the Ateneo reserves took over the scoring chores.

The Maroons absorbed their third straight blowout loss after a surprise opening-day triumph over the Bulldogs, who remained winless in four outings after failing to sustain a strong start against the Archers.

Meanwhile, action resumes today with Far Eastern University and University of the East eyeing a share of second place when they face separate foes at the PhilSports Arena.

The Tams have the dangerous assignment as they take on the Santo Tomas Tigers at 4 p.m., while the Warriors battle the Adamson Falcons at 2 p.m.

The scores:

First Game
ATENEO 83—Buenafe 17, Al-Hussaini 13, Salamat 12, Tiu 11, Salva 6, Baclao 6, Austria 4, Nkemakolam 4, Long 4, Reyes 4, Baldos 2, Gonzaga 0, Chua 0, Burke 0, Sumalinog 0.
UP 66—Reyes 12, Braganza 12, Lopez 8, Co 8, Sison 7, Agbayani 7, Sorongon 6, Astorga 4, Marfori 2, Fortu 0, Gamboa 0, Hipolito 0.
Quarters: 25-15, 43-33, 70-52, 83-66

Second Game
LA SALLE 93—Barua 26, Maierhofer 16, Villanueva 8, Mendoza 8, Mangahas 8, Batricevic 5, Webb 4, Casio 4, Walsham 3, Chandumal 3, Bagatsing 3, Lee 3, Ferdinand 2, Revilla 0, Malabes 0, Atkins 0.
NU 69—Asoro 14, Jahnke 13, Berry 8, Baloran 8, Aguilar 6, Catamora 6, Batac 5, Garcia 4, Galapon 3, Ponferrada 2, Tungkul 0, Magat 0, Fabula 0, Dela Cruz 0, Luy 0.
Quarters: 22-24, 46-36, 70-48, 93-69