By Rick Olivares
ATENEO de Manila and National University (NU) both shut down separate opponents in the fourth period to pull away for huge victories that catapulted them to the semifinals of the Filoil Flying V Premier Cup on Tuesday at the Filoil Flying V Centre.
Ateneo, battling adversity all summer on and off the court, pulled off a stunning upset in the quarterfinals with a 68-59 win over the Perpetual Help Altas.
The NU Bulldogs, on the other hand, gained confidence following a 65-57 victory over the Adamson University Falcons.
The Blue Eagles’ Anton Asistio, who has played sparingly this tournament, hit three triples, including a huge one off a touch pass and offensive rebound by GBoy Babilonia at the 8:29-mark of the fourth period to break a 48-all tie.
It was the ninth and last lead change of the match as Ateneo built a nine-point bubble that they kept to the end.
It was the Blue Eagles’ three-point shooting at the start of the third period that galvanized their struggling offense. From a 31-26 halftime deficit, Ateneo’s Jolo Mendoza, Vince Tolentino and Adrian Wong hit consecutive triples for a 35-31 lead.
Perpetual Help, bucking foul trouble to key players, battled back behind center Prince Eze, but 11 missed free throws. A second-half disparity off the boards, 28-15, and poor shooting from the field did the Altas in.
Chibueze Ikeh and Aaron Black conspired for Ateneo’s two nine-point spreads in the game, the biggest lead by any squad during the match. From a 55-50 advantage, Ikeh went to work and scored seven points while Black added four markers.
Bright Akhuetie was the only Altas player in double figures with 15 points. Perpetual Help’s leading scorer, Gab Daganon, finished with six points, nine off his 15-point average. Eze, the team’s third double digit scorer, finished with nine.
Surprisingly, Altas head coach Nosa Omorogbe pulled out Akhuetie with five minutes to play with Ateneo leading 54-50. Without Akhuetie, and with Daryl Singontiko fouling out and the other Altas in the midst of a wretched game, Perpetual Help crumbled.
Adrian Wong led Ateneo with 15 points. Ikeg added 12 points and eight boards while Asistio struck for 12 markers.
With only two veterans who played heavy minutes on their University Athletic Association of the Philippines champion squad two years ago, the young Bulldogs have taken down in succession a veteran-laden Arellano University team in their last elimination round assignment, and the young but tough Falcons in the win-or-go home quarterfinals,
Entering the fourth period, both teams were level at 43-all. After the Falcons’ CJ Cadua scored on a drive, NU responded with a three-point play by power forward Mohammed Salim on Adamson University’s Khristian Bernardo.
Salim continued his big game by hitting a triple to push NU to a 49-45 lead it would not surrender. The Bulldogs’ third-year point guard, Rev Diputado, played his part by stabilizing their offense while Adamson University wilted under the pressure.
NU clamped down on Adamson University’s explosive backcourt of Rob Manalang and Harold Ng, who were held to a combined six points.
Salim led NU with 12 points with center Alfred Aroga adding 10 markers. Papi Sarr once more led the Falcons with 11 points and 12 rebounds while second-year forward JD Tungcab had 10 points.
Image credits: Alysa Salen