FEU, Ateneo duel for title

Ateneo and Far Eastern University hammered out contrasting victories to arrange an all-UAAP finals Monday in the 2009 Philippine Collegiate Champions League at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City. The back-to-back UAAP titlists Eagles dumped San Beda College, 81-69, while the Tamaraws came from behind to oust NCAA champion San Sebastian College in overtime, 86-83. The best-of-three championship starts tomorrow at 4 p.m. after the 2 p.m. battle for third place between the Stags and the Red Lions, also at the Ynares Sports Arena. Despite the absence of Smart Gilas mainstay Rabeh Al-Hussaini, the Blue Eagles went on a shooting spree in the fourth quarter to win pulling away. "We're hoping to play a little bit better unlike this game. We're still not complete but we'll just do the best we can in the finals," said Ateneo coach Norman Black. Oping Sumalinog, Jai Reyes, and Eric Salamat fired 14 points each, with Ryan Buenafe adding 13 points to lead the Eagles. They combined for all the nine treys converted by the Eagles, most of them in the payoff period. But while the Eagles had an easy sailing in claiming the second finals berth, the Tamaraws needed a late comeback anchored behind 5-foot-11 guard RR Garcia to hammer out the victory. Garcia banged in 17 points in the fourth and extra periods to bring back life to the Tamaraws, who trailed the Stags by as much as eight points late in regulation period. Garcia finished with 28 points, five rebounds, six assists and six steals in 40 minutes of action. “Grabe ang pinapakitang character ng mga players ko. Down kami ulit pero hindi pa rin sila bumigay at natutuwa ako at nagma-mature sila,” said FEU coach Glenn Capacio, whose team is looking to win the national championship for a record third time. FEU, which came back from a six-point deficit in the final two minutes of its game against University of the East in the Elite Eight, exploded a 10-0 bomb to turn a 61-69 deficit to a 71-69 lead with 20 second remaining in regulation. Ronald Pascual sent the game into extra period with an alley-oop from a pass by Jimbo Aquino. The Tamaraws, with Garcia hitting back-to-back treys and Cawaling adding another one, raced to an 82-77 lead with 2:27 left in overtime. San Sebastian fought back with three straight baskets to grab the lead anew, 83-82, 1:24 to go. But as fate would have it, the Stags failed to but another basket from there allowing the Tamaraws to come through with a 4-0 windup for the win. Reil Cervantes added 18 points and seven rebounds while Smart Gilas mainstay JR Cawaling contributed 14 points despite a 4-of-11 shooting.