Powered by the efforts of Dave Ildefonso and Angelo Kouame, Ateneo de Manila University pulled the rug on upset-seeking National University to get its 31st straight win with a 74-64 victory in the UAAP Season 84 Men’s Basketball Tournament, Tuesday, at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
Up with a 53-50 lead near the end of the third quarter, five unanswered points by Tyler Tio gave Ateneo a 58-50 cushion before the fourth quarter. While NU kept on knocking at the door, baskets from Kouame and SJ Belangel gave Ateneo a 67-61 edge with less than five minutes to go.
However, Reyland Torres made things interesting when he sunk a three that trimmed NU’s deficit to 64-67 with only 2:20 to go in the ballgame. Straight from a timeout, Ildefonso’s drive allowed the Blue Eagles to increase their lead to 69-64 with 2:00 remaining.
NU’s RJ Minerva then missed his basket narrowly and then Ateneo’s Gian Mamuyac and Raffy Verano scored five unanswered points to see the Blue Eagles through.
“NU’s a good basketball team coming into this game,” said Ateneo coach Tab Baldwin. “They played well. They had good wins and they already showed everybody in the league how tough they were. I think we expected that but I’m not sure we respected that enough and that’s a mistake on our part.”
Ildefonso led Ateneo with 14 points and Kouame flirted with a triple-double thanks to his output of 12 points, 10 rebounds, and eight blocks. Belangel also contributed 11 points along with seven rebounds for the Blue Eagles’ cause.
Ateneo’s starters helped them tremendously with 44 points compared NU’s 15 points. On the other hand, the Bulldogs’ bench provided 49 points to the Blue Eagles’ 30 points. NU also had 15 fastbreak points to Ateneo’s four.
“I think that Jeff (Napa) used his bench really well,” added Baldwin. “I think that the tempo of the game was controlled by NU. I think NU, forget the last 1:30 of the game, we just had good players step up and make good plays. I think their bench did a very good job.”
Reyland Torres led NU with 14 points followed by John Lloyd Clemente’s 12 points and six rebounds. Ernest Felicilda had 10 points and six assists for the Bulldogs as well.
Both schools shall continue their campaigns on Thursday at the SM MOA Arena. NU (2-3) faces University of Santo Tomas at 1:00 PM while Ateneo (5-0) goes up against University of the East at 4:00 PM.
The Scores:
ADMU 74 – Ildefonso D 14, Kouame 12, Belangel 11, Tio 8, Mendoza 7, Verano 6, Mamuyac 6, Chiu 5, Koon 4, Andrade 1, Lazaro 0, Padrigao 0.
NU 64 – Torres 14, Clemente 12, Felicilda 10, Malonzo 6, Ildefonso S 5, Yu 5, Manansala 4, Figueroa 2, Joson 2, Enriquez 2, Galinato 2, Minerva 0, Tibayan 0, Gaye 0, Mahinay 0.
Quarterscores: 20-14, 41-33, 58-50, 74-64.
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