Playing their fourth game in four days, the young Ateneo Pilipinas needed to dig deep to hold off the pesky Team B of Japan’s Men’s National Basketball Team, 80-74, Wednesday evening at the Xinzhuang Gym in Taiwan.
Angelo Kouame proved to be the big difference in the contest, tallying a 15 points, 14 rebounds, and two blocks.
With Kouame manning the fort, the Blue Eagles raced to a 48-34 midway through the third canto after the Ivorian student-athlete got a lucky tip-in. But once the big man sat down, the Japanese gladly drove through the lanes and slowly chipped at the Ateneo lead.
A strong 8-2 rally by Japan – capped by a Keita Imamura triple – with 7:58 remaining in the game gave Japan a 63-62 lead.
Thirdy Ravena then took it upon himself to stop the Philippine side’s bleeding with an and-one play. A split on the stripe by Kouame, a floater by Matt Nieto, and a tip-in by the former gave Ateneo a seven-point edge.
The Japanese had one last rally, slicing the lead to just a solitary point. Adrian Wong answered right back by clogging the passing lane, leading to a wide-open layup with 3:21 left. Gian Mamuyac then scored on a turnaround jumper to extend Ateneo’s cushion to four.
A triple by Takuma Sato with 29 ticks left followed by an inbound violation called on Wong with 29 ticks left gave Ateneo a scare. But Japan was not able to take advantage, while Wong sealed the win with four free throws – two coming from a confrontation with Sato.
Ravena had 14 points, nine rebounds, three steals, and one highlight block.
Wong, who banged knees with Ryota Nakanishi early in the second frame, played his best game of the tournament with 11 markers. Matt Nieto chipped in 10 points.
Sato paced Japan with 12 points, while Koyo Takahashi added 11 points off the bench.
Still, struggling from downtown, the Blue Eagles made it up by scoring 40 points in the paint. However, the Philippine team only had nine assists in the contest.
Next up for Ateneo Pilipinas is ABL club team CLS Knights of Indonesia (1-4). Tip-off is at 12:00nn.
The Scores:
Philippines 80 – Kouame 15, Ravena 14, Wong 11, Nieto Ma 10, Mamuyac 9, Mendoza 8, Nieto Mi 5, Verano 4, Black 2, Go 2, Maagdenberg 0, White 0.
Japan 74 – Sato 12, Takahashi 11, Imamura 10, Hashimoto 9, Tamaki 8, Namizato 6, Hiraiwa 5, Toews 5, Schafer 5, Nakanishi 3, Sugiura 0, Inoue 0.
Quarterscores: 21-13, 37-31, 60-55, 80-74.
