Category: UAAP-news

With their backs against the wall, the Ateneo Blue Eagles summoned all the strength that they could get to force a deciding game against the De La Salle Green Archers, 65-64 in the UAAP men’s basketball tournament. The Green Archers needed only a win to formally advance to the finals against UE but the Blue Eagles had a different thing in mind.

Ateneo sharpshooter Chris Tiu redeemed himself from a lethargic first half with clutch shooting down the stretch to help the Blue Eagles overcome a six-point deficit in the last 2:10. The sudden death match, their fifth encounter this year, will be played this Sunday 3PM at the Big Dome. So far, the Blue Eagles have a 3-1 edge in their series match-up against the Green Archers but the lone win by De La Salle last Sept 18 was the most crucial as it enabled them to gain the number 2 spot and a twice-to-beat advantage in the final round.

Ford Arao was again a beast for the Blue Eagles torching the nets with 19 points, 10 of which came in the first canto. Arao had a buzzer-beating jumper in the waning seconds of the game to help save the Blue Eagles’ campaign this season.

After Chris Tiu banged in a three-point jumper to cut the deficit to 61-64, Arao beat the shot clock with a baseline jumper to pull the Blue Eagles within one, 63-64, with only 51 seconds left on the game clock. Tiu then went on to score on a lay-up with 7.3 seconds left to push the Blue Eagles ahead 65-64 and the game.

The Green Archers had one more chance to win the game but guard JV Casio decided to pass to Fil-Bahraini Bader Malabes on the left wing. Malabes’ three-point attempt was off the mark. Forward Rico Maierhofer’s offensive putback failed to beat the buzzer.

De La Salle was paced by guard TY Tang with 20 points while Casio had a ho-hum performance, finishing with only 11 points on 4-of-11 shooting from the field.

The Green Archers have not lost a twice-to-beat edge in the UAAP.

The Ateneo Blue Eagles are still alive and breathing after defeating the defending champs UST Growling Tigers 69-64 in the 2007 UAAP step ladder phase. The Blue Eagles leaned on Chris Tiu, Ford Arao, and the surprise plays of the lightly-regarded Severino Baclao and Mike Baldos to pull off the win. Arao topscored for Ateneo with 17 points followed by Tiu with 14 markers. But it was the unexpected contribution of Baclao and Baldos that spelled the difference.

Baclao, a transferee from West Negros College, added 11 points, 8 rebounds and 3 shot blocks while Baldos had a productive 7 points in just 5 minutes to set the tone for the match. Before the contest, Baldos played in only 5 games for the Blue Eagles. Baclao collared a pair of crucial rebounds in the closing minutes that foiled UST’s comeback.

The Tigers didn’t get good games from their main men Jervy Cruz and Khasim Mirza. Cruz, the leading candidate for UAAP MVP, finished with 17 points and 16 rebounds but was horrible from the field. He hit only 6 of his 21 shots, including a horrible 1 of 12 shooting in the second half. Mirza finished with only 2 points on 1-9 shooting. Dylan Ababou was a bright spot for the team chipping in with 16 points and grabbing 11 caroms.

The Blue Eagles face the De La Salle Green Archers on Thursday with a twice-to-beat disadvantage.

Meanwhile, a visibly dejected Pido Jarencio of UST was in tears after an emotional postgame talk with his players. He’s still unsure if he’ll still coach the Growling Tigers next season.

The De La Salle Green Archers won the battle of nerves against rival Ateneo Blue Eagles 70-69, thus assuring itself of a twice-to-beat advantage in the UAAP stepladder phase. Just to show you how tight the game was, score was dead even 10 times and there were 13 lead changes.

The Ateneo Blue Eagles are still from their loss to the lowly National University last Saturday. A win could have given them the outright number 2 spot but it wasn’t meant to be.

Forward Cholo Villanueva pushed La Salle to a 70-67 lead with 9.3 seconds left on the clock and the Blue Eagles, with no timeout left, settled for a two-pointer instead of a game-tying three to virtually hand the game to the Green Archers.

Jai Reyes went for a triple but was covered and was forced to pass off to Zion Laterre who instead took a 15-footer with just a second left on the game clock.

The victory over the Blue Eagles was the only Green Archers’ first in three meetings with Ateneo but they gained the all-important win which could push themselves in the UAAP finals.

The loss means that Ateneo has to win three straight games in order to arrange a title duel with the undefeated University of the East. The Blue Eagles need to win over UST this Sunday for the right to face the De La Salle Green Archers.

The University of the East swept the UAAP eliminations as expected but not before getting roughed up by the highly-determined De La Salle Green Archers. With the score tied at 16 in the opening canto, De La Salle forward Rico Maierhofer landed a hard foul on UE forward Mark Borboran. Mark Fampulme came to his teammate’s aid and confronted Maierhofer on the De La Salle bench, which sparked a verbal and shoving incident among players of both sides.
Continue reading “UE 14-0!”

Bowling Green, Kentucky (E.A. Diddle Arena) – In an evening dubbed as the “[tag]Hilltopper Hysteria[/tag]”, former [tag]Ateneo Blue Eagle[/tag] [tag]Japeth Aguilar[/tag] bested fellow newcomers [tag]Desire Gabou[/tag] and [tag]Jeremy Evans[/tag] and junior [tag]Mike Walker[/tag] to rule the [tag]Western Kentucky University[/tag] (WKU) [tag]slam dunk contest[/tag] in front of more three thousand cheering fans.

The 6’9″ Japeth Aguilar put excitement to the show by bringing home a difficult one-handed slam where he placed his entire forearm through the rim. He capped off the contest and the title with a baseline two-handed windmill dunk.
Continue reading “Super Japeth wins school slamdunk tilt! (video clips added)”

The UAAP scribes tell us something we already know, don’t you agree? The UAAP Press Corps will recognize Pido Jarencio of the newly-crowned UST Growling Tigers as the Coach of the Year tomorrow.

In my opinion, no other UAAP coach deserves the award (save for Leo Austria of the Adamson Falcons, but then Pido’s Tigers made it all the way). Congratulations to the coach with the infectious smile and affable demeanor!

The rest of the UAAP Press Corps Awards:

Continue reading “UAAP Press Corps: Coach Pido is the Best”