Ateneo played a perfect game at the most vital of times.
In what could be the one of the biggest upsets of the season, the Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles handed the De La Salle University Green Archers their first taste of defeat, 83-71, Saturday afternoon at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum.
Besides the win, the Blue Eagles have forced a Final Four format entering the next round.
But assistant coach Sandy Arespacochaga downplayed the win, saying, “La Salle’s still the number one team. They’re really tough to beat. I guess the beauty of the sport of basketball, in this rivalry, in Ateneo-La Salle, standings don’t matter.”
Aaron Black, who had missed the first round encounter of the two teams due to a foot injury, fueled Ateneo’s big win with 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field and seven rebounds. Big man Isaac Go added 10 points and six rebounds, while Matt Nieto had 15 points.
“I just came into the mentality that I really want to win this game, always attacking,” Black said. “I know their bigs are very strong in the paint if they get into foul trouble, we’ll get a bigger chance to win.”
“Pray to God for guidance,” Go quipped about how he had prepared for Mbala. “Getting a chance to play in the Ateneo-La Salle is beyond a blessing. I studied the game plan. We studied everything we needed to do. With the help of my family, they prepared me mentality.”
Ateneo continually punished coach Aldin Ayo’s patented mayhem defense for 40 minutes, running away right from the get go. Back-to-back baskets by Aaron Black gave the Blue Eagles their biggest lead of the game, 76-58, with three minutes remaining. La Salle could only bring the lead down to nine points, 71-79, but there were just 20 seconds remaining in the game.
On the defensive end, the Blue Eagles shackled the best offensive team to just 71 points on a horrid 29 percent shooting clip.
“We wanted to make sure that no matter what happens, we have to play good defense,” Arespacochaga shared. “And we really had to focus on every play and every possession.”
Matt Nieto added 15 points on an efficient 6-of-8 clip. But for him, he did not need extra motivation to play a game of such caliber.
“From my perspective, since Grade school kasi, Atenean na ako. It’s really the hype. Rivalry sobrang intense. Mentality ko leave everything on the court, patay na kung patay,” the sophomore guard added.
Ateneo outworked La Salle on the boards, out-rebounding them 48 to 43.
King Archer Jeron Teng led La Salle with 18 points on a 6-of-17 clip. Cameroonian student-athlete Ben Mbala was shackled as well, as he went just 5-of-13 from the field for 17 points, with 15 rebounds.
It does not get easier for the Blue Eagles (7-4) as they take on the Far Eastern University Tamaraws on Saturday, November 9, at the SM Mall of Asia Arena. The Green Archers (12-1) play their regular season finale on Saturday, November 12, also against the FEU Tamaraws at the same venue.
The Scores:
ADMU (83) – Black 16, Nieto Ma 15, Wong 11, Go 10, Asistio 9, Verano 6, Ravena 4, Tolentino 4, Nieto Mi 4, Mendoza 4, Ikeh 0, Babilonia 0.
DLSU (71) – Teng 18, Mbala 17, Melecio 11, Montalbo 6, Caracut 6, Rivero P 4, Perkins 3, Torres 3, Tratter 3, Go 0, Rivero R 0, Baltazar 0, Sargent 0.
Quarterscores: 23-16, 44-36, 61-50, 83-71
