Tenorio's Triple-Double Powers Eagles to Victory

LA Tenorio finished with 15 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists to lead Ateneo over Santo Tomas.


The smallest guy on the floor played with the biggest heart and finished with even bigger marks in the statistics sheets.

Pointguard LA Tenorio notched his first triple-double of the season, helping Ateneo de Manila University pocket its first win in the 2005 University Athletic Association of the Philippines wars after dismantling University of Santo Tomas, 79-72, at the Big Dome Saturday.

Tenorio finished with 15 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists to lead the Eagles back to the win column.

More importantly, the victory enabled Ateneo to redeem itself from a humbling 78-60 loss versus arch rival De La Salle University in their first game

“After our loss, our confidence dropped. Going into this game, all we want to do is to win to get some of that confidence back and I’m happy to get out of here with a win,” Ateneo coach Norman Black.

Black was all praises for his team, expounding on their ability to ‘communicate better’ and ‘execute better’ tonight. But on top of his praise list is the name of his premier veteran Eagle.

“It (triple-double) speaks for itself. He picked his shots well tonight,” said Black, who for the first time tasted the sweet taste of victory as a head coach of a collegiate basketball team.

Tenorio managed to get his team running like a well-oiled machine in offense as he dishes out one good pass after another, the regular recipients of his passes JC Intal, Macky Escalona and Douglas Kramer just too happy to finish.

Intal topscored for the Eagles with 22 points as Claiford Arao managed 15 markers while Escalona had 11 and Kramer 9.

“His energy will fuel this team and I hope he would bring that with him every night,” added Black.

Ateneo now totes a 1-1 card, sharing the slot with Adamson University, La Salle and University of the East.


The Tigers’ half-baked full court press in the final minute blew in their faces as the Eagles managed to heave it down court with Kramer finishing with a lay up with 18.2 seconds, followed by another lay-in by Intal to push Ateneo out of harm’s way.






He doesn't have to score, just run the team like a good point guard should. Yet when the opportunities presented themselves, L.A. Tenorio's shooting hand proved steady enough. Joining hands with J.C. Intal, Tenorio notched the first triple-double of this UAAP season with 15 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists as Ateneo earned their first victory via a 79-72 win over UST. Intal himself was a scoring machine, throwing in 22 points in the win.

The first half saw the Blue Eagles altering their starting lineup a bit. Joining Japeth Aguilar, Doug Kramer, Intal, and Tenorio was Macky Escalona, subbing for Magnum Membrere. The two point guard combo served Ateneo well as the fastbreak game was clearly on throughout the game. L.A. was content to just find the open man, feeding Intal for a dunk here or Macky Escalona on a drive there. Holding a slim 38-33 lead at the halftime break, J.C. led the scoring with 13 points with a surprising 12 points from big man Ford Arao to back him up.

Despite repeated attempts by the Blue Eagles to run the Growling Tigers to the ground, the España-based dribblers stayed in the game. Tenorio continued to orchestrate with impunity, including Doug Kramer as a target of some nifty passes in the third canto. With a relatively smaller lineup, Santo Tomas decided to concentrate on shooting from the outside, a strategy that worked well for La Salle during the previous week.

Eventually, the Tigers started driving, even challenging the shot blocking prowess of Japeth Aguilar. The third quarter ended with a buzzer-beating triple from Magnum Membrere, again off a Tenorio pass. Score was Ateneo 59, UST 51.

Ateneo brought the lead to 67-54 before UST made their last stand. Turnovers and a late injury to Tenorio gave Warren de Guzman, Allan Evangelista, Danny Pribhdas and June Dizon an opening, as the Ateneo defense began to crumble. Still, with even his three point shots going in, this might have been the most complete offensive game Intal has played in his UAAP career.

With a little over five minutes left in the game Macky Escalona suffered a dislocated finger while Tenorio had a bad landing resulting in a minor ankle sprain. This forced Coach Norman Black to place Jai Reyes and Magnum Membrere as the blue and white backcourt. Perhaps Coach Black wanted to throw Reyes into the fire early in his UAAP career, luckily the rookie showed enough poise to keep Ateneo ahead until Tenorio recovered. Intal's driving lay-up with 47.7 seconds left ultimately spelled the difference, giving the Eagles a 74-67 lead. In the end, Ateneo emerged with a 79-72 win.

In spite of the many turnovers in the second half, Tenorio's amazing triple double and Intal's offensive versatility has given the Ateneo faithful something to cheer about and to look forward to for UAAP season 68. Coach Norman Black has now won his first game as Blue Eagle coach.