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WHAT was billed as a clash of the two titans quickly became a lopsided affair.

Ateneo de Manila University, back-to-back defending champions of the Philippine Collegiate Champions League and reigning four-time UAAP titleholders, blew out the University of Cebu Webmasters, 100-53, in the opening game of the round-robin Final Four of the 2011 PCCL last December 5 at the Arena in San Juan.

“Normally, when we take our break, we normally come back a little bit rusty. But today, Greg [Slaughter] was able to get us off to a very good start. The ball movement at the beginning of the game was very good and our players really displayed a lot of teamwork,” said Ateneo head coach Norman Black.

UC held the lead just once on an Edward Pao triple during the Webmasters’ first possession. But, it was all Ateneo from then on as it answered with a 7-0 blast to go up 9-3. By the end of the first quarter, the Blue Eagles had inflated the lead to 28-10, with eight of 10 players fielded in managing at least two points each.

The Webmasters countered with a big surge against Ateneo’s second unit at the start of the second quarter, getting two triples from Jan Auditor and point-blank shots from 6’10″ center Junemar Fajardo, who came off the bench because of a knee injury he suffered in the finals of the Southern Islands bracket against Southwestern University. That cut the Ateneo lead to under double-digits, 35-26. But the return of the Blue Eagles’ starting unit, with JP Erram manning the power forward spot in lieu of UAAP Finals MVP Nico Salva, held UC to just four more points in the half. On the other side of the court, Ateneo ran the floor efficiently and scored 19, boosting their advantage to 54-30 at the half.

The Blue Eagles continued to roll after the break, holding UC to just a single field goal in nine minutes that bloated the advantage to 80-33. From that point on, it was just a matter of playing out the string as the starters got an early rest, followed by the second-stringers at the 5:07 mark of the fourth when Black decided to insert his third unit to close out the one-sided affair. “Those players are our future,” commented Black. “They may be role players now, but in the future they can be our main players, so it was nice to be able to give them an opportunity to play.”

Greg Slaughter and Salva led all scorers with 18 points each, with Slaughter, the former University of the Visayas Green Lancer, adding 11 rebounds for a double-double. Reserve big man Erram managed 13 markers on perfect 5-for-5 shooting. Veteran point guard Emman Monfort was not available due to PBA Developmental League commitments. But, in his place, the starting backcourt of Kiefer Ravena and Tonino Gonzaga combined for 25 markers, eight boards and 15 dimes.

Ateneo was a beast in transition, running out to 27 fastbreak points and 20 points off turnovers as UC could not get back on defense fast enough. Fajardo played just 14 minutes – all in the first half – tallying 12 points and nine rebounds in that span. The big man did not play at all in the second half as Webmasters head coach Roehl Gomez decided on saving his big man for their two other round-robin encounters. Jan Auditor and John Aranas also came off the bench for a combined 21 points, while starting guard Brian Heruela posted across-the-board stats of eight points, nine rebounds and eight assists.

Things got heated for a brief moment at the 8:42 mark of the second period when Pao landed an accidental blow on Justin Chua. Though Pao quickly apologized, the referees still ruled on ejecting the starting power forward from the game.

The FInal Four continues tomorrow, December 6, with the two teams matching up against NCAA squads. The Blue Eagles take on the NCAA runners-up, the San Sebastian College-Recoletos Stags, while the Webmasters tangle with the reigning, back-to-back champion San Beda Red Lions.

The scores:

Ateneo 100 – Slaughter 18, Salva 18, Erram 13, Ravena 12, Gonzaga 10, Long 7, Chua 6, Austria 6, Tiongson 4, Capacio 3, Golla 2, Pessumal 1, Estrada 0, Sumalinog 0, Cipriano 0

UC 53 – Fajardo 12, Auditor 11, Aranas 10, Heruela 8, Pao 6, Ampoon 4, Ocariza 2, Mohammad 0, Bagnol 0, Batino 0, Bercede 0

Quarter scoring: 28-10, 54-30, 82-39, 100-53

(2 votes, average: 3.50 out of 5)

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