by Milo

The Adamson Soaring Falcons shot 48% from the field, their starters outscored their opponents 55-48, and they looked to win the game with their strong fourth quarter. Patrick Cabahug had a game-high 22 points, Ken Bono followed with 19 marks, Roel Hugnatan with a double-double notching 14 markers and 16 boards, and Leo Canuday with 11 points

All went down the drain with one shot.

With time running out, Adamson leading 72-70, the Ateneo Blue Eagles’ Chris Tiu drained a triple with 20 seconds remaining to up the Eagles 73-72. Afterwards, a tightly-woven defensive wall initiated by the Eagles caused the Falcon’s Ken Bono to lose the ball and seal the victory for the Ateneans.

Chris Tiu scored 7 out of his 9 points, including the game-winning triple in the fourth quarter. Doug Kramer led the Eagle’s charge with team-high 14 points and 11 boards, JC Intal came in with 13 points, and Macky Escalona scored 10 points and 2 assists.

With this win, Ateneo bolted to solo first place in the UAAP standings and will face the defending champions FEU, who are surprisingly in last place, on the 27th. Adamson, however, crashed down to 1-2 and will face the UP Fighting Maroons next this Sunday.

What I Like About Tiu

He might still be remembered as the athlete who muffed an open lay-up or that pretty-boy in the Master Facial Cleanser commercial, but Chris Tiu has provided the intensity and the spark the Ateneo Blue Eagles need for this season.

His numbers may not speak much in the previous seasons he has played. Averages of 1 point, 0.9 rebounds and 0.5 assists in his rookie year is barely enough to net him the rookie of the year award. He didn’t also fare too well in his second year. He improved to averages of 4.6 points, 1.7 rebounds and 0.9 assists, but these are not even worthy of a most improved player award.

This season, however, looks different for Chris.

He will still not fill up your stat sheet with your MVP type numbers. He’s upped his minutes and averages in points (6.7), rebounds (1) and assists (1.3) in the three games he has played.

But he does things that does not appear in the stat sheet, much like Shane Battier does for the Memphis Grizzlies or Bruce Bowen does for the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA.

Chris comes back in transition quickly to defend the opposing team. He tries his best to keep his body in front of the opponent, more often than not, a bigger opponent just to disrupt his offensive rhythm. This intensity may not directly lead to a turnover, but a missed shot and a rebound for the Eagles more or less will have the same effect.

He also scored the clutch winning three-pointer for the Ateneo Blue Eagles against the Adamson Soaring Falcons. That is the ability to keep your composure under pressure. Not many have that capability.

He has grown maturely enough to take less risky routes in the game. Though he started the season with 3 turnovers, he has lessened his errors in his 2 games after that.

However, he should learn though to take higher percentage shots in the future to complete this transformation. He shot way too many jumpers in the three games he has played for the Eagles this UAAP season 69.

He may never fill the shoes of LA Tenorio in the future, but a good team needs role players, and Tiu fills this position perfectly.