Defending champions Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles displayed their fine form, making the National University Bulldogs look like an intramurals team with a 72-46 rout, Saturday evening at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
After falling on opening day to the Adamson University Soaring Falcons, the Blue Eagles have won two straight wins in convincing fashion. The same cannot be said for the Bulldogs, who have dropped their last two games.
“I thought our defense was the way we wanted to be it. There’s no excuse to not play that way after this,” said third-year Blue Eagles head coach Tab Baldwin.
Right after the tip-off, the Blue Eagles hounded the Bulldogs, limiting them to just nine points in each of the the first two quarters of the game. NU shot just 7-for-32 from the field during the opening 20 minutes of the game, while the Blue Eagles built a 15-point lead.
“When we got that defensive effort, we can be a prospectively hard team to beat for the other teams,” added the renowned tactician.
Behind Jonas Tibayan and JV Gallego, the Bulldogs showed some semblance of fight in them to start the final stanza, cutting the lead down to just 13 points. But the Blue Eagles found an extra gear, going on a 16-4 blitz to pick up a lead that went to as high as 27 points.
Angelo Kouame served as Ateneo’s anchor in the contest, hauling down 12 boards and swatting away three shots. Thirdy Ravena was the sole double-digit scorer for the Blue Eagles with 13 points to go along with four rebounds, three steals, and a block – but needed just 22 minutes to make that tally.
NU’s 46-point output is the lowest the Bulldogs have totaled under Jamike Jarin.
Enzo Joson had 11 points to lead NU.
Highly-touted recruits Troy Rike and Dave Ildefonso could not get anything going in the game. Rike – who had 15 points and six rebounds against La Salle – finished with just two points and four rebounds. Ildefonso, who was averaging 17.5 points per game, was held down to just four.
Ateneo will next face the University of the East Red Warriors on Wednesday, September 26. NU, on the other hand, will have a full week to regroup before taking on Adamson on Saturday, September 29. Both games will be held at the Filoil Flying V Centre.
The Scores:
ADMU (72) – Ravena 13, Asistio 9, Wong 7, Nieto Mi. 7, Go 6, Verano 6, Black 6, Kouame 5, Belangel 5, Andrade 3, Nieto Ma. 2, Daves 2, Mamuyac 1, Navarro 0, Mendoza 0, Tio 0.
NU (46) – Joson 11, Tibayan 8, Clemente 7, Gallego 6, Ildefonso D. 4, Ildefonso S. 4, Rike 2, Galinato 2, Malonzo 2, Gaye 0, Diputado 0, Sinclair 0, Aquino 0, Yu 0, Morido 0, Salim 0.
Quarterscores: 11-9, 33-18, 49-30, 72-46
