THE ATENEO Blue Eagles achieved their coveted “four-peat” as they captured their fourth straight title after beating the Far Eastern University Tamaraws, 82-69, in Game 2 to sweep the best-of-three finals series in the 74th UAAP basketball tournament yesterday at the Araneta Coliseum.
With the sweep, the men in blue won their fourth straight UAAP championship, joining the ranks of University of Santo Tomas and De La Salle University as teams who have achieved the feat. The Growling Tigers did it from 1993 to 1996 while the Green Archers ruled the league from 1998 to 2001.
The Blue Eagles made this season of the UAAP their own as they won 15 of the 16 games played. And just like Game 1, which they won, 82-64, the Blue Eagles stamped their class in the third period.
The Tamaraws fought like crazy and overhauled a five-point first period deficit and led, 36-35, at halftime, thanks to an 18-7 run.
However, the Eagles gained control of the lead with a 22-9 run in the third period starting with shots from Rookie of the Year Kiefer Ravena, Nico Salva and Kirk Long.
They also got contributions from their shock troopers led by Juami Tiongson, JP Erram and Tonino Gonzaga, whose three-pointer gave Ateneo a 57-43 lead.
Ateneo was never really threatened in the fourth quarter, and led by as many as 19 points several times before the end of the match. /Correspondent Jonas Panerio