THE ATENEO Blue Eagles redeemed themselves from a shocking defeat to the University of Sto. Tomas as they routed the National University Bulldogs, 89-65, in the 75th UAAP basketball tournament last Sunday evening at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Unlike in their game against UST, wherein they led by 19 points before losing, 70-71, the Eagles were relentless against NU and built leads as high as 27 before cruising to the final buzzer for their second win in three games and their ninth straight victory against the pre-season favorites.
The game was hardly in doubt for the Eagles as they raced off to a 55-34 lead at halftime and were still up by 18, 72-54, heading to the final canto.
Nico Salva paced Ateneo’s balanced attack with 21 points while Kiefer Ravena added 17 points, six rebounds and five assists.
Cebuano center Greg Slaughter, formerly of the University of the Visayas, made up for his foul-plagued performance against UST with 14 points and 13 boards on top of five assists and three blocked shots./Correspondent Jonas Panerio