In a battle of two contenders in their respective leads, it was the big game experience of Matt Nieto and the Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles that triumphed over the upstart Colegio de San Juan de Letran Knights, 74-72, Thursday evening at the Filoil Flying V Centre.
The Blue Eagles, who have just arrived from Greece last night, will face the FEU Tamaraws in the knockout semifinals of the 2018 Filoil Flying V Preseason Cup, presented by Chooks-to-Go. But still, a job is a job for the Blue Eagles.
“We still entered this game knowing our situation. Letran played well. They had a good gameplan and our defense wasnt good. We didn’t play the kind of defense we wanted to play against them,” said Ateneo assistant coach Sandy Arespacochaga as coach Tab Baldwin is still in Greece.
It was a down-the-wire affair between the two age-old rivals.
With 25.3 seconds left, Bong Quinto was able to clean up a Christian Fajarito’s attempt that was swatted away by Angelo Kouame to give Letran a 72-70 edge.
That was when Matt Nieto took over.
Knowing that he has a power and speed advantage over JP Calvo, the Gilas cadet was able to drive by his defender for an and-one opportunity. Nieto though missed the free throw. Fortunately for the Blue Eagles, they received a break as the ball went out of bounds off a Letran player.
Once again, Nieto went for a strong drive against Calvo, knocking down the go-ahead layup with 5.4 ticks remaining.
“In the end, I’m glad that we were able to get some stops and execute our plays. I’d like to thank our players for digging deep, especially in the last few minutes,” Arespacochaga furthered.
Struggling to get the ball to their main men Bong Quinto and Bonbon Batiller, Letran settled for a Jeo Ambohot triple from the top of the arc. His attempt though was far left as time expired.
The Nieto twins scored nine points apiece for the Blue Eagles while Koume added eight points and 13 rebounds.
Calvo led Letran with 16 markers while Batiller chipped in 13 points. Christian Fajarito also had a stellar game with 10 points and seven rebounds.
The Scores:
ADMU 74 — Ma. Nieto 9, Mi. Nieto 9, Kouame 8, Asistio 6, Ravena 6, Wong 6, Navarro 5, Tio 5, Verano 5, Belangel 4, Go 4, White 3, Maagdenberg 2, Mendoza 2, Andrade 0, Black 0, Mamuyac 0.
CSJL 72 — Calvo 16, Batiller 13, Fajarito 10, Muyang 10, Quinto 10, Celis 4, Agbong 2, Balagasay 2, Balanza 2, Yu 2, Ambohot 1, Mandreza 0, Taladua 0.
Quarterscores: 15-17, 30-35, 56-52, 74-72.
