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ATENEO de Manila exacted some measure of revenge against its conquerors from last year, albeit under the strangest of circumstances.

Captain Chris Tiu scored 26 points, including 17-of-19 shooting from the foul line, to pilot the Blue Eagles to a thrilling 79-73 win over archrival De La Salle University in the 71st University Athletic Association of the Philippines seniors basketball tournament at a jampacked Araneta Coliseum.

“It’s not the rivalry we were playing for tonight. It is our desire to win every game on the way to the championship,” said Tiu. “That’s a big break for me, shooting more free throws.”

Tiu hit two free throws with 2:56 left in the fourth after a Hyram Bagatsing foul. Eric Salamat then split his charities with 1:45 left to extend Ateneo’s lead to three, 74-71. A Rico Maierhofer jumper sliced the deficit to 73-74 with 1:20 remaining.

But Tiu once again sunk both of his charities with 38.5 ticks to stretch the Blue Eagles lead to 76-73. La Salle turned the ball over after an impressive steal by Yuri Escueta on Maierhofer. The point guard split his charities with 20.1 left. Tiu then sealed the game, once again at the free throw stripe, giving the Eagles a much-needed victory over their nemesis.

“Chris Tiu, as what I said before, is our main man. He delivered for us,” said former PBA coach Norman Black, who steered Ateneo to the Nike Summer League plum. “It’s a huge win for us every time we play La Salle.”

6-foot-7 center Rabeh Al-Hussaini scattered six of his 10 points in the crucial fourth quarter, while collaring eight rebounds in 26 minutes of play.

Salamat sizzled with 10 points in just 15 minutes off the bench, while rookie Ryan Buenafe chipped in eight points with two boards and two assists. Jobe Nkemakolam and Nonoy Baclao combined for 14 points for Ateneo, which has not lost an elimination round game against the Green Archers the past three occassions.

La Salle, however, put up a solid stance early in the fourth. James Mangahas nailed a trey with 7:16 to go to put the Green Archers in the driving seat at 67-61.

Ateneo, though, used a 10-0 blast that was capped off by Salamat’s two lay-ups in the thick of the La Salle defense to take the lead for good.

Guard Joseph Casio led De La Salle with 19 points while Maierhofer added 16 and eight rebounds.

The Blue Eagles offset De La Salle’s +15 advantage from rainbow territory by sinking 34 foul shots as against 13 by the Green and White.

Meanwhile, the coaches of both teams were assessed technical fouls, which both of them called “weird and unjustified.�

Franz Pumaren, the multi-titled La Salle mentor, was called for a technical foul for not wearing his ID, which according to UAAP commissioner Chito Narvasa is mandatory. Tiu headed to the free throw line and made both his technical free throws even before the opening tip.

“I have no idea why they called a technical against me because of not wearing my ID,” said the disgusted Pumaren. “Nobody wore IDs when they watched the UP and NU game earlier. And last Saturday too.”

Norman Black also incurred a technical foul for “disobeying commissioner’s ordersâ€? at the start of the fourth period. “It’s kinda weird, I don’t know why I got a technical, this is the first time I got a T in my collegiate career,” said Black.

Narvasa told inboundpass.com that “there are new house rules that these two coaches are not aware of because they did not attend the coaches meeting last week.”

“Norman [Black] was complaining too much and that’s against our new house rules. Just the same with Pumaren for not wearing his UAAP ID,” Narvasa said.

Individual Scores:

ADMU 79 – Tiu 26, Al-Hussaini 10, Salamat 10, Buenafe 8, Baclao 7, Nkemakolam 7, Burke 4, Austria 3, Long 2, Escueta 1, Salva 1, Baldos 0, Reyes 0.

DLSU 73 – Casio 19, Maierhofer 16, Mangahas 13, Webb 7, Bagatsing 4, Villanueva 4, Revilla 3, Atkins 2, Walsham 2, Barua 2, Ferdinand 1, Malabes 0.

Quarter Scores: 17-16; 35-40; 56-54; 79-73

Tags: Ateneo-Blue-Eagles, De-La-Salle-Green-Archers, Franz-Pumaren, News, Norman-Black, Petron, UAAP

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