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Blue Eagles in Finals
By CHRISTINE MONCADA
TWO more wins.
The tantalizing thought must be flashing at Ateneo’s collective mind when it posted a lopsided 81-64 victory over University of Santo Tomas yesterday to clinch the first finals slot in the UAAP men’s basketball championship at the jampacked Araneta Coliseum.
Crafty guard Jai Reyes led Ateneo with 17 points, eight rebounds and three assists while Ryan Buenafe chipped in 15 points, seven rebounds and two assists in leading a balanced attack by the defending champion.
That assault, spiked by a hard-nosed stance on the other end of the court, took full shape in the second half when the Blue Eagles steadily broke away from a nine-point halftime lead to erect as much as a 23-point fourth quarter cushion.
"We played good defense," said Eagles coach Norman Black who notched his third finals appearance with the Katipunan-based dribblers. "(Buenafe) stepped up big time in the absence of Nico (Salva)."
Salva served his one-game suspension for punching Far Eastern University’s Jens Knuttel last week.
Ateneo now awaits the winner of FEU-University of the East sudden death scheduled at 3:30 p.m. also at the Big Dome on Thursday for its foe in the best-of-three finals.
The Red Warriors forced the deciding match after walloping the Tamaraws 84-74 last Saturday behind the heroics of Paul Lee, who exploded for a career-high 26 points.
FEU sorely missed the services of Andy Barroca, who was dropped from the roster following his alleged involvement in game-fixing.
"Both teams are very good. One team is on a roll while the other is struggling. We will just sit back. We want to have fresh legs going into the finals on Sunday," Black stated.
Season Most Valuable Player Dylan Ababou and wiry slot man Khasim Mirza played their last game as a Tiger after exhausting their eligibility.
Ababou, the only holdover of the 2006 champion team, finished with 19 points and eight rebounds while Mirza had a double-double of 14 markers and 11 boards.
The Eagles padded a 40-31 halftime lead by unleashing a 28-14 blitz, highlighted by two treys and a three-point play by Buenafe, to erect the biggest lead of 68-45 at 6:18 in the fourth.
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