Ateneo logs first-round sweep

THE ATENEO Blue Eagles completed a sweep of the first round and did it in emphatic fashion as they creamed the Far Eastern University Tamaraws, 69-49, in a rematch of last year’s finals in the UAAP basketball tournament at the Araneta Coliseum.

The Blue Eagles were already gearing toward pulling away midway the fourth quarter when a series of calls against the Tamaraws aided the defending champions in cracking the game wide open.

Ateneo capitalized on two technicals and an unsporstmanlike foul by the Tams to bang in 14 unanswered points en route to a 23-point advantage with 3:59 to play.

Kirk Long unleashed two triples, Emman Monfort and Greg Slaughter combined for five-of-six from the stripe while Kiefer Ravena highlighted the demoralizing run with a put-back plus a foul.

Ravena once again showed his worth with 19 points and nine rebounds. Their other rookie Slaughter, formerly of the University of the Visayas Lancers, had a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds.   /Correspondent Jonas Panerio