Eagles mount strong start, rout hapless Tamaraws

MANILA, Philippines – Six-peat seeking Ateneo served a terrifying notice to the UAAP in a statement game Wednesday, routing league pace-setter FEU, 92-73, in the 76th season of the UAAP men's tourney at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The Blue Eagles are on a roll after a lackluster start this season, winning six of their last seven games to improve their record 6-4 and tie archrival La Salle at the third spot.

Juami Tiongson topscored for the Blue Eagles with 20 points while Kiefer Ravena and Chris Newsome chipped in 18 and 11 points, respectively.

"The significance of this win is not we are in the top four and tied with La Salle, but we will still take it one game at a time," said Ateneo coach Bo Perasol, who revealed he just came from surgery to remove kidney stones.

"In the break I told the boys it was not about the lead. It was the necessity to win and they responded well," he added.

The Eagles mounted their biggest lead of the game at 33 when Vince Tolentino converted on a lay-up to take a humungous, 73-40, upperhand with 49 seconds remaining in the third canto.

FEU simply had no answer even as prolific guard Terrence Romeo scored 14 points in the payoff period with the Blue Eagles cruising to the surprising easy win.

"Dati ng dadalawang isip pa sila sa mga sarili nila because of our earlier losses but I believe their mentality from the previous years is now coming into play," said Perasol.

Ateneo had a dominant performance in all fronts, dominating the boards, 58-42, and registering a 21-10 advantage in the assists department. The Katipunan-based squad also shot better at 47 percent compared to FEU’s 35 percent clip.

Romeo led the Tamaraws with 19 markers while RR Garcia added 11 points.

Despite the loss, FEU remains at the top of the standings with an 8-3 record

"To achieve our goal of making it into the top four, we have to put emphasis on our defense and our strong individual defense is the core of our team defense. Hindi naman sikreto yun," said Perasol.

The Eagles went on 14-4 tear in the first three minutes of the game and continued to pound the Tamaraws. They held a 26-8 advantage before Romeo scored five quick points to lessen the gap, 13-26, entering the second period.

Bouyed by their strong first quarter, the momentum stayed with Ateneo, which took a 51-28 margin entering the halftime break.

Tiongson scored 12 first half points, but their balanced offense was key with 10 players registering already in the scoring column. This resulted in an efficient Ateneo offense that featured a scintillating 58.8 percent clip compared to a measly 26.8 percent shooting by the Tamaraws.