Eagles, Tams zero in on twice-to-beat edge

Ateneo made key baskets down the stretch as it struggled past upset-conscious National U, 62-58, yesterday to zero in on a twice-to-beat advantage in the Final Four of the 67th UAAP basketball tournament at the Philsports Arena.

LA Tenorio recovered from a lethargic start, where he flubbed 10 of his 13 attempts from behind the arc, as he fired the team’s lone double-digit output – 11 points – to keep the Eagles at the helm with their 10th victory in 13 games.

It was later matched by defending champion Far Eastern U which decisioned University of Santo Tomas, 66-57, to likewise moved closer to a twice-to-beat edge.

The Tigers reeled to their ninth setback against four wins.

Although his offensive game sputtered, Tenorio more than made up for this by playing solidly in defense, grabbing a game-high 11 rebounds while dishing off five assists and making two steals.

Another win against defending champion the Tams on Saturday at the Araneta Coliseum would give Ateneo the top spot and the twice-to-beat advantage in the semifinals possibly against either La Salle or University of the East.

The Archers and the Warriors, who hurdled their respective assignments Saturdays, are already assured of a spot in the next round and will collide on Thursday at the same Pasig City venue.

But the Bulldogs did not go out without a fight as they clawed back from a 50-56 deficit to close within a point, 56-57, on a three-point play by Rey Mendoza and a triple by Alex Miclat with 37.3 seconds to go.

Tenorio muffed a triple but Paolo Bugia plucked the offensive rebound for a put back and foul from Marlon Mollena. Bugia missed the bonus charity but rookie Edwin Asoro threw an errant pass on Jason Malcontento after securing the ball that sealed NU’s doom.

Tenorio and Christian del Rosario hit three free throws to send the Bulldogs to a 12th setback against a win.

"We expected NU to play well. It wasn’t easy for us. We just worked harder to get this win," said Ateneo coach Sandy Arespacochaga.

Arespacochaga, however, was met by bad news as Doug Kramer will not see action in their FEU match.

Kramer, a Fil-Am sophomore center, was one of the four suspended by commissioner Ato Badolato for committing a second flagrant foul of the season, the other three being La Salle’s Joseph Yeo, State U’s Ira Buyco and Adamson’s Marvin Poloyapoy.

The particular UAAP rule states that a player who commits two flagrant fouls, either both in the same game or separately, automatically gets a one-game suspension.

Santo Tomas skipper Christian Luanzon was also suspended a month ago for a similar incident.

Kramer committed the unsportsmanlike foul on Mendoza with a little over four minutes remaining in the third period.