One Day Later: FEU vs DLSU, ADMU vs AdU

Terrence Romeo made just 1 of his 8 attempts, but the former RotY dished out 8 dimes (pic source)

FEU 74 - DLSU 65
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Player of the Game : RR Garcia was quiet in the first two quarters (4 points), but it turned out he was merely saving himself up for an explosive second half that saw him drop 17 points on the Archers, 10 coming in the pivotal fourth quarter. Playing off the ball for the most part, with Terrence Romeo (8 assists) assuming point guard duties, last season's MVP buried some backbreaking triples, as well as a much needed backdoor play when DLSU was threatening at 66-62.
FEU Stat to Watch : The undersized Tams front court got some great play from Carl Bryan Cruz (25 minutes, 9 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists) and Mark Bringas (13 minutes, 5 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block) but overall, they lost the rebounding war, 48 to 41, with DLSU getting a 25 to 14 edge in offensive rebounding. Luckily for them though, despite all those extra chances, they were able to tie the Archers in second chance points, 9-all.
FEU Player to Watch : JR Cawaling finished with 10 points and a rebound, which is a bit of a letdown for him. However, he did help bring the ball up against the DLSU press, and his triple with 4:50 to play restored FEU's lead to double digits, 62-59.
DLSU Stat to Watch : The Archers were their usual inconsistent selves at the line, making just 23 of their 37 charities. Props must be given though to LA Revilla, who was relentless in his attack and finished with a 9 for 12 free throw performance.
DLSU Player to Watch : LA Revilla was a man amongst boys on the Archers squad yesterday, as the comeback kid scored a team-high 18 to go with his 5 rebounds and 5 assists. The FEU guards had a difficult time containing him, which was good for DLSU, as he was the only one who seemed to be in the flow of the game, and accordingly, he played 30 minutes, the most on the team.

Other Stats:

• Aldrech Ramos finished with 16 points and 8 rebounds in 32 minutes. DLSU's front court players, Arnold Van Opstal, Norbert Torres, Yutien Andrada, Ponso Gotladera, Maui Villanueva, Jovet Mendoza, and Papot Paredes, combined for 17 points and 22 rebounds in a combined 85 minutes of play.
• DLSU fielded in 15 of their 16 players, with everyone save for Martin Reyes seeing minutes. I had asked Coach Dindo Pumaren after their Fil-Oil win versus ADMU about his tactic of fielding in nearly his entire team and he responded by saying that it was the preseason, and he was still trying to help everyone gel by getting them on the court. Fast-forward to the first game of the season, against a strong contender for a Final Four spot no less, and it still seems like Pumaren is experimenting, shuffling guys in and out at every deadball situation.
• Expect Coach Flores to have to ride RR Garcia (33 minutes) and Aldrech Ramos (32 minutes) this season, if they want to knock out the bigger name teams. This team badly misses Pipo Noundou's scoring and toughness inside.

Congratulations Adamson, you're the first team to have been Slaughter-ed (pic source)

ADMU 55 - AdU 51
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Player of the Game : Greg Slaughter showed why other teams wanted to strike him down early in the boardroom, as the 7'0" behemoth put his team on his shoulders and carried them to the win with his 23 point, 8 rebound, 2 assist, 2 block performance. Adamson coach Leo Austria tried double-teaming him in the first half, and then switched to single coverage late, but neither tactic really worked. Against him, Adamson big men Jan Colina fouled out, and Eric Camson and Austin Manyara were slapped with four fouls each.
ADMU Stat to Watch : Though the Falcons unleashed an offensive salvo in the third quarter to wrest away the lead, the Eagles came back to shut them down in the fourth. Overall, once again Ateneo held Adamson to sub-thirty percent shooting, 26.6 percent to be exact.
ADMU Player to Watch : Nico Salva was an average 8 points, 6 rebounds, as he missed 8 of his 12 shots. That included some bungled layups in transition, and a few jumpers that went in and out.
AdU Stat to Watch : Though the Falcons got 6 steals and forced 14 turnovers, they only had 2 turnover points to show for it, as the Eagles' transition defense was in fine form yesterday.
AdU Player to Watch : Alex Nuyles had a very quiet team-high 11 points yesterday, scoring nine of them in that key third quarter. He seemed very tentative, especially in the fourth quarter, and it wasn't like he was having a bad shooting game, hitting 4 of his 7 shots. The Falcons will need him to be more assertive down the stretch, especially if Lester Alvarez is off, as he was in this game.

Other Stats:

• By now, everyone knows that Ateneo held the Falcons scoreless in the last 6:56 of the fourth quarter, forcing 14 straight misses to close out the game. Of those 14 attempts, Lester Alvarez was responsible for 7 of them, and the normally clutch point guard was as a whole, 2 for 17 from the field, both made shots being triples.
• Yes Kiefer Ravena was scoreless, but "The Phenom" actually attempted just a single field goal, perhaps trying too hard to fit in with his more veteran teammates. Though it might be a departure from his structured, team-oriented offense, coach Norman Black might want to try getting him some iso-plays or a few screens to get Ravena going in the next game
• The Falcons made all 11 of their free throws yesterday, while Ateneo was 18 of 27 from the stripe (5 of 10 for Slaughter)
• A contrast in styles: Adamson had 26 perimeter points and 14 points in the paint. Ateneo on the other hand, had 7 perimeter points and 30 points in the paint. Many felt that the addition of Ravena and the improved shooting of Tonino Gonzaga would help Ateneo nail more triples. This was not the case here as the Eagles were just 1 for 10 from outside the arc.
• A contrast in styles, part two: Adamson got 24 starter points and 27 bench points. Ateneo had 47 starter points and just 8 points from its reserves. 

UAAP Picking Record: 1-1