Eagles fall; Falcons soar again

University of the Philippines rocked the 65th UAAP men’s basketball tournament yesterday when it brought down ertswhile unbeaten Ateneo, 53-49, at the Makati Coliseum and left La Salle as the only unbeaten team so far this year.

Rookie Lino Tabique Jr. and Xavier Nunag delivered the points that mattered most although it was the Maroons’ shackling fourth-quarter defense that stuck the dagger deep into the heart of the Blue Eagles.

Tabique outplayed close friend and former San Beda High teammate LA Tenorio with his 10 points, including eight in a third-quarter run that started it all for the Maroons.

Tenorio, now Ateneo’s starting point guard, was held to nine points while Enrico Villanueva and Rich Alvarez, their 1-2 punch, were limited to a combined output of 20 points. Even shooter Larry Fonacier was silenced to just two points.

"The key here was that we’ve started to respect our opponents. And that made us defend well on both their shooters and big men," said UP coach Allan Gregorio.

Adamson University, playing with nothing to lose and everything to gain, notched its second victory of the year, this time claiming the scalp of Far Eastern University, 76-57, to improve its record to 2-2.

The Falcons ended a horrendous 35-game losing streak that started in August of 1999 by beating the NU Bulldogs last week.

"I’m just happy that we’re starting to get the feel of how it is to win. It’s really unbelievable – winning our second game in just a week," said Adamson coach Luigi Trillo, who went 0-28 during the last two years.

"It makes us realize that we can achieve anything if we stick together and play hard," he