Twice to beat in semis: Eagles squeak past Tigers

MANILA, Philippines - Ryan Buenafe pulled off a huge three-point play in what Ateneo coach Norman Black described as a “lucky play” as the Blue Eagles outlasted Santo Tomas, 68-66, to secure the top spot in the Final Four of the UAAP men’s basketball tourney yesterday at the MOA Arena.

Buenafe’s endgame heroics, which Nico Salva completed with a tough defense that forced Aljon Mariano to miss a potential game-winning trey, gave the Blue Eagles a 12-2 win-loss card after the elims.

They are now guaranteed of the No. 1 spot and twice-to-beat advantage in the Final Four.

Santo Tomas fell to 9-4 and third place, behind Far Eastern (9-3). The two teams continue on their race for the No. 2 berth.

“That was actually our goal from the beginning, to stay in the Top 2,” said Black.

“Even though we’re in the top spot going into this game, we found out if we were to lose, and FEU will win its remaining games, they will be No. 1 and we’ll have to battle UST for No. 2. So we really wanted to avoid that as much as possible,” he added.

Ateneo looked comfortably ahead, 56-43, before UST unleashed its now-famous fightback and pulled ahead at 66-65 on a Karim Abdul jumper with 7.7 seconds left.

Buenafe then rose to the occasion and drove to the basket, drawing a foul from Kevin Ferrer and launched a shot that Abdul swatted away.

After some consultation, the referees ruled it a goal-tending violation. Buenafe took care of his freebie for a two-point cushion with 5.1 seconds left.

“We couldn’t get the basketball to Greg Slaughter, and it freed up Ryan Buenafe in the post. Happens to be a lucky play, to be honest. He made the best of it by going straight to the basket and finishing the play. That was huge,” said Black.

Kiefer Ravena led the way for Ateneo with 18 points, his last basket forcing a 63-63 standoff. Juami Tiongson added 13, including a 15-footer off a long rebound that gave Ateneo a 65-64 edge.

Abdul finished with 22 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to go with three steals and two blocks in outplaying Slaughter (10 points, five boards).

UST management, however, is poised to place the game under protest, disputing the goal-tending violation called against Abdul. The Tigers will also cite the referees’ decision not to slap a technical foul on Black for rushing to the court to vehemently complain about a non-call in the last 18 seconds. The Ateneo bench was warned earlier in that game for a similar action.

“Kilala ninyo naman ako, pag talo, talo, pero management decision (If it were up to me, a loss is a loss. But it’s now up to management),” said UST coach Pido Jarencio.

Playing its best shooting game of the season, Adamson waylaid University of the East, 89-69, to catch up with its victims at sixth spot with 3-10.

Jericho Cruz bucked the flu to rifle in 21 points (four triples) for the Falcons, who shot 34-of-68 (50 percent) from the field spiked by a 13-of-28 clip (46.4 percent) from three-point country in avenging their 66-71 setback to the Warriors in the first round.

“He (Cruz) has adapted to our system already, unlike in the first round. We have much confidence in him. As you can see he’s been consistently playing well the last five games,” said Adamson coach Leo Austria of their transferee from Rizal Tech U in the NCRAA.

Cruz also issued eight assists and had one steal, complemented by Roider Cabrera (15, all on treys) and Rodney Brondial (14 markers, 11 rebounds).

Roi Sumang led the way for UE with 24 points, eight boards and six feeds.

Meanwhile, Commissioner Ato Badolato slapped Far Eastern’s Arvie Bringas with a two-game suspension for his unsporstmanlike foul (elbow) on UP’s Diony Hipolito in the Tams’ 67-63 win last Thursday.

His teammate Mark Belo was also slapped a one-game ban for committing a similar infraction against Maroons’ Alvin Padilla in the same game, his second for the season.

“That was his (Bringas’) first game after his (initial) suspension and he committed an unsportsmanlike foul again. He already had a (previous) warning that a stiffer penalty will be slapped should he commit another such infraction,” Badolato told the STAR.

Bringas was earlier suspended for his disqualifying foul (spitting) in the Tams’ 67-77 loss to Ateneo last Aug. 29, a move that resulted in a separate one-game ban from FEU.

Bringas will sit out FEU’s game against La Salle today, along with Belo.