Eagles Soar Over Tigers; NU Stops Bleeding By Besting Tams

by Migi


At least for one day, the NU Bulldogs felt like they belonged again.


In a game filled with a bevy of turnovers, an unsportsmanlike foul from NU guard Jonathan Janhke, and a lot of tense endgame moments, the National University Bulldogs managed to come out the victor, besting the now 5 and 2 FEU Tamaraws, 69-61, in a game held at the Araneta Coliseum in Cubao, Quezon City. The win was the first for the Bulldogs in Season 71, and the the win broke the FEU Tamaraws' 4 game winning streak.


The game was, to say the least, ugly. Asoro shot a couple of airballs (thanks to his errant-release jump shot form). NU committed a couple of boneheaded turnovers in the endgame. FEU missed a couple of gimme baskets late in the fourth period despite more or less porous NU defense, plus committed a number of careless fumbles with the contest on the line.

To add to the bizaare nature of this game, was the fact that Ateneo fans cheered actively for the Bulldogs to grab win number one of the 2008 season, and win they did.

Today's FEU loss showed just how much they miss fallen leading scorer Marnel Baracael. Without a definite go to guy, the Tamaraws looked towards a number of cagers for offense. While the Tams hung tough with perimeter brilliance, the Bulldogs continuously pounded the ball in the paint, as evidenced by bigs Jewel Ponferrada's 16 pts, 6 rebounds, and 4 blocks, and Raymond Aguilar's 12 points, 10 rebounds, ans 2 assists. In the end, patience on offense, and well, a little bit of Jahnke magic, proved to be the difference.

In the main game, the two teams that tussled for the 2006 UAAP crown took the stage once again as the Ateneo Blue Eagles went head-to-head with the UST Growling Tigers. Early on, it became obvious that Coach Norman Black wanted to draw UST bruiser Jervy Cruz away from the shaded area by giving Ateneo reserve Mike Baldos a starting nod and the green light to chuck up medium-range jumpers. In the end, the strategy backfired, as Baldos misfired on 2 out of 3 of his jumpers, Jervy asserted his will on offense, and Dylan Ababou, who came into the game averaging 16.8 points and 4.2 rebounds per contest, made the Ateneans pay with a smorgasboard's worth of driving layups and difficult jumpshots.

As the game progressed, both teams' offensive games continued to sputter. Chris Tiu didn't score his first points of the contest until midway through the second period. Dylan Ababou got his touches and his points, but not without attempting a whole lot of shots (he was 0-7 from the floor at the 3:59 mark of the 2nd quarter). Clark Bautista, the Ateneo summer league standout (who later enrolled in UST), who scored 18 points in UST's last outing against NU, couldn't quite get his game going early. The scrappiness of the game carried over well into the second half, with Ateneo making big plays in the clutch (a big time Jai Reyes trifecta, and a crucial Chris Tiu steal) to nab the win and grab solo first place in the UAAP standings.

What impressed me about today's UAAP victories were the fact that no one, and I mean, no mean, got anything easy. Defenses were tight. Layups were contested. A lot of the fouls were hard, but not dirty. The intensity was on the upswing, and crunch time was, apparently, the preferred dish of the day. All the drama, and the amazing basketball exploits that were brought to the fore in Cubao today, proved to be worth several times the price of admission.

Funny Fact: While I cheered wildly from my upper box seat with my father in tow, a group of FEU boosters sat in the row ahead of me. After several tense moments between the protagonists on the hardwood, our brothers from Morayta moved to an opposite row, while snickering and looking towards where I stayed. I don't know whether those kids thought,

"Hey, let's move...that guy's one of those rabid Ateneo alumni...and hey, he's pretty big! Best we move away, lest we get beat up."

or

"What a dork! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Go USTE! Go USTE!"

Either way, I thought of the little encounter as funny. What's (Philippine college) basketball, in the context of being either a participant or an observer, without a dash of heckling? Bring it on. :) Let's all have a good time, shall we? :)

Revelation of the Game: Wow. Rabeh dunked the ball in transition. :) And boy, that kid Jeric Fortuna can shoot. He could teach Japs Cuan a thing or two about jump shooting. Sorry Japs, you'll be the Paul Artadi of this edition of the UAAP (in terms of shooting skill) until you show you can go James Yap (or at least, Ronald Tubid), on us.

Great show today, folks. :) Breathtaking, indeed.

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