The young Blue Eagles showed that they could win even the ugliest of games.
After all the on and off court struggles the team experienced, the Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles shook-off a slow start in a 68-59 win over the University of Perpetual Help DALTA System Altas to advance to the semifinals of the 2016 FilOil Flying V Premier Cup Tuesday afternoon.
Adrian Wong led three Blue Eagles in double-figures with 13 points on a 4-for-7 shooting clip and added five assists to his statline. Big man Chibueze Ikeh also held his own against the formidable Perpetual towers in scoring 12 points and grabbing eight boards.
“We’ve encountered a lot of ups and downs both on and off the court over the summer,” Ateneo head coach Sandy Arespacochaga. “We would like to continue learning. It’s a blessing to get a have to chance to continue to play and learn.”
The Blue Eagles only scored their first field goal after a Wong drive with 3:53 remaining in the opening frame as Perpetual held a 12-3 lead. Wong carried this momentum in the second frame in leading the Katipunan cagers with eight first half points to cut the lead to just five, 31-26, entering halftime.
“We challenged them defensively if they could step it up. We shot better in the second half as well,” Arespacochaga shared. “They listened and they adjusted and that was good for us.”
The third canto saw both teams exchange seven lead changes and six deadlocks in a foul-plagued quarter. A buzzer-beating basket by Aaron Black gave Ateneo a 48-46 lead to enter the final frame.
With Ateneo holding a slim 52-50 lead with 5:27 remaining, the Blue Eagles were able to go on a 9-2 rally behind four points from Ikeh and five by Black to gain a 61-52 lead with 3:03 left in the game. Misses by Gab Dagangon, Prince Eze, and GJ Ilagan did not help Perpetual’s cause as the frustration mounted in the Altas bench.
Flash Sadiwa and Eze tried to stage a late-game hijack but free throws by Wong and two baskets by Ikeh sealed the game for the Blue Eagles.
“The key with our bigs is that they have to work in tandems. Ikeh held his own,” Arespacochaga said about Ikeh who helped limit Akhuetie and Izeh to just 8-for-23 shooting. “Vince Tolentino also, there were moments for GBoy Babilonia and Kris Porter. We are happy with the way Ikeh and our bigs responded.”
Akhuetie led the Altas with 15 points and 15 rebounds. Gunslinger Gab Dagangon was limited to just six points on a horrid 3-for-17 shooting clip.
A total of 49 fouls were assessed in the game that led to 66 free throws being taken by both squads. The Blue Eagles though shot a tad better than the Altas from the field in shooting 39 percent from the field compared to just 32 percent that proved to be the difference.
The Blue Eagles will face the winner of the FEU-DLSU tilt on Friday, June 10 at 4:00pm.
The Scores:
ADMU (68) – Wong 13, Ikeh 12, Asistio 12, Black 8, Tolentino 4, Babilonia 4, Go 4, Mendoza 3, Ravena 2, Nieto 2, Porter 2, Allmond 2, Banzon 0.
UPHSD (59) – Akhuetie 15, Sadiwa 9, Eze 9, Coronel 7, Dagangon 6, Yuhico 5, Singontiko 4, Ylagan 3, Pido 1, Dizon 0, Mangalino 0, Lucente 0.
Quarterscores: 11-13, 26-31, 48-46, 68-59.
