THE Ateneo Blue Eagles capitalized on three big turnovers in the last seven minutes to turn the tables on the Adamson Soaring Falcons, 73-67, and formally earn the no. 2 seeding Wednesday night in the 79th University Athletic Association of the Philippines men’s basketball tournament at the Mall of Asia Arena.
The Blue Eagles first moved away on a couple of turnovers by Pappi Sarr and Dawn Ochea, as they firmly secured the lead, 58-55, off charities scored by Raffy Verano and Isaac Go in the final 6:52.
They then took and held on to a five-point lead in the final 6:16 after Rob Manalang gave up the ball, and Mike Nieto struck off Thirdy Ravena’s pass, 60-55.
“Tough game. Tough win for us. It’s a hard-earned win. We’re happy our players stayed focused in spite of the good performance of Adamson. It wasn’t really a beautiful game. It was a defensive effort,” said Ateneo coach Sandy Arespacochaga.
The Blue Eagles, with Thirdy Ravena leading with 14 points and 13 rebounds, avoided the complications of the three-way tie in second place.
With Nieto and John Wong tallying 12, the Blue Eagles finished the eliminations with a 10-4 card at no. 2, behind the top-seeded La Salle, which entered the Final Four with 13-1 record.
La Salle will now have a Final Four clash on Wednesday with Adamson, which finished fourth at 8-6, while Far Eastern University, which took, the no. 3 seeding, battles Ateneo.
Meanwhile, the defending champion FEU Tamaraws struggled with veteran shooter Monbert Arong sitting on the bench for most the game.
But the Tams still found a way to get over Arong’s absence on the floor as they the finally got past the University of the East Warriors in the final minute for a 64-61 triumph.
A split free throw from Wendell Comboy and a triple from Axel Inigo in the last 35 seconds provided FEU the heroics they needed to post their ninth win in 14 games.
They gained a four-point edge after FEU forced a 59-all deadlock off Comboy’s jumper with 1:36 remaining.
Coach Nash Racela said they decided to just let Arong sit it out, so that other players like Joseph Nunag can have more time on the floor after a month’s absence due to injury.
He added that another reserve player in Kim Bayquin also needed to have time on the court.
“Pakiramdam ko ay kakailanganin sila sa playoff and this is the last time to give them an opportunity to help them get their timing back,” said Racela.
Inigo showed the way with 16 points, while Richard Escoto and Raymar Jose added 11 each, even as Comboy shot 10 for the Tams.
Paul Varilla banged in 13 points for UE, which ended its campaign at 3-11.
They enjoyed a 59-54 edge in the last 5:46 off Edson Batiller’s jumper.