MANILA – The Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU) Blue Eagles and Far Eastern University (FEU) Tamaraws arranged an all-UAAP Finals showdown in the 2009 Philippine Collegiate Champions League (PCCL).
 
The Blue Eagles bucked a slow start to subdue NCAA runner-up San Beda College (SBC) Red Lions, 81-69, while the Tamaraws nearly squandered a 13-point lead before pulling off an 86-83 overtime squeaker in the other game on Monday at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City.
 
Oping Sumalinog came through with a breakout game, exploding for 14 points and 7 rebounds to lead 4 more other Eagles in double figures.
 
The Eagles stormed back from a 22-30 deficit with Sumalinog’s triple capping off a 17-2 run to grab the lead for good, 39-32, towards the end of the 2nd period.
 
The Lions, who were missing injured key players Sudan Daniel and Borgie Hermida among others, tied the contest for the last time on Garvo Lanete’s drive, 43-all, at the 5:07 mark of the third period.  However, it was the closest the Lions could get as the Eagles methodically broke the game wide open from long distance.
 
Eric Salamat had two triples while Jai Reyes and Ryan Buenafe added 1 apiece when the Eagles transformed a 65-59 lead to several double-digit leads in the 4th canto.
 
“We’re not still complete but we’re hoping to play better in the Finals.  Noy [Baclao] came here 10 minutes into this game from the Philippine Patriots’ practice while Rabeh [Al-Hussaini] won’t play anymore for us,” Ateneo coach Norman Black said.
 
Garcia shines
 
In the curtain-raiser, the Tamaraws went to their ace guard RR Garcia, who made 10 points in the extension to pull the rug from under the NCAA champions, San Sebastian College (SSC) Golden Stags.
 
The Stags, who came back from as high as a 13-point deficit in the 2nd quarter, blew a 69-61 advantage as the Tamaraws even led 71-69 in the waning seconds.
 
San Sebastian’s Ronald Pascual’s alley-oop basket forced the overtime but the Tamaraws, who had a disappointing UAAP season, could not be denied of the victory.
 
“Ipinakita ng mga bata sa larong ito ‘yung maturity nila.  I hope magtuloy-tuloy na ito sa Finals,” FEU coach Glenn Capacio said.
 
Garcia, a Zamboanga native, wound up with a career-high 28 points on top of 5 boards, 6 assists and tournament-high 6 steals.
 
The emotionally-charged match, which saw 4 deadlocks and 13 lead changes, even extended after the game.

In the second quarter of the Ateneo-San Beda match, SSC’s Pamboy Raymundo was seen charging towards the FEU players who were watching from the sidelines.  FEU’s Jens Knuttel tried to pacify Raymundo but the latter warded him off, adding more fuel to the fire.
 
Cooler heads intervened when FEU coach Glenn Capacio came over to separate the warring parties. 
 
The altercation stemmed from their highly-physical game when FEU’s Paul Sanga hit Raymundo on the face after Aldrech Ramos fouled him in one sequence early in the 2nd period.
 
Meanwhile, the best-of-three PCCL Finals will be played on Wednesday at the Ynares Sports Arena at 4 p.m. following the lone battle for 3rd place, a rematch of the NCAA Finals between the SSC Stags and SBC Red Lions.  -- by Alder T. Almo

The Scores:
 
FEU 86 –Garcia 28, Cervantes 18, Cawaling 14, Ramos 7, Exciminiano 7, Knuttel 4, Noundou 4, Vinluan 2, Sanga 2, Guerrero 0.
SSC 83 – Aquino 23, Pascual 16, Del Rio 121, Raymundo 12, Abueva 9, Sangalang 7, Maconocido 4, semira 0, Najorda 0, Bulawan 0.
Quarters: 20-11, 33-31, 55-53, 71-71, 86-83 OT.
 
ADMU 81 – Sumalinog 14, Reyes 14, Salamat 14, Buenafe 13, Baclao 11, Salva 8, Long 5, Golla 2, Gonzaga 0, Chua 0, Austria 0, Tiongson 0, Monfort 0.
SBC 69 – Lanete 15, Gamalinda 13, Dela Rosa 12, Caram 8, Marcelo 7, Tecson 5, Villanueva 3, Solera 2, Lim 2, Pascual 2.
Quarters: 12-18, 39-34, 58-53, 81-69.

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