The STI Olympians brought down Far Eastern University, 77-72, yesterday and advanced to the semifinals of National Collegiate Champions League at the Arena in San Juan .

Bagging the fourth and last semis berth was Ateneo, which leaned on the red-hot shooting of Chris Tiu and forward Nonoy Baclao in the fourth period to crush Jose Rizal University, 81-71, a press release from organizers said.

The Eagles started slow as they trailed most of the time but when Tiu got into his offensive mode, the Katipunan-based squad ripped the game wide open. Baclao, a transferee from NOPSSCEA champion West Negros College , contributed 11 points.

The 5-foot-11 Tiu exploded for 16 points, 10 of them in the payoff period to seal the win and arranged a duel with University of Santo Tomas – the same team which shocked them in last year's UAAP Finals.

“It's nice to see Chris making those big shots,” Ateneo coach Norman Black, who also credited the team's big fighting heart for the win, said.

“We just matched the physicality of JRC and that's helped us a lot,” said Black, who also drew 18 points and seven boards from Ford Arao.

The last time the Bombers took the lead was at 51-46 before Arao and Tiu combined in several spurts to post a 57-54 lead going into the final 10 minutes. JRU ousted West Negros College with an 83-61 win in the first round last week.

Mark Balneg, who played for two championships with Letran in the NCAA before transferring for STI, delivered the lethal blows as he knocked in five of the team's last seven points, including a huge trey that turned the game around.

He finished with 12 points, seven of them in the fourth quarter to highlight STI's whirlwind finish.

With the win, the Olympians arranged a one-game semis duel with Cebu Sports Athletic Federation Inc. champion University of Visayas on Monday.

The UV Lancers, bannered by Ritchum Dennison, Rino Berame and the 6-foot-11 Fil-Am Gregory Slaughter, downed University of Mindanao, 78-58. *

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