By Jun Ray Navarres
Ateneo de Manila University escaped archrival De La Salle University with a late game push to record first win in UAAP Men’s Basketball, 77-72 at the MOA Arena, Wednesday night.
Eagle Mason Amos and Archer Kevin Quiambao entered clutch on the fated rivalry, exchanging three on back-to-back possessions. Rookie Amos came up on top, scoring eight of his 12 points in the fourth period to widen the gap to 70-64 with 2:09 left to play.
Kai Ballungay fueled the fire for Ateneo with a double-double of 18 points and 16 rebounds (also four assists) including a slam dunk to maintain the Blue Eagles ahead, 72-67.
Mark Nonoy staved off the loss with a three to bring the Archers to within four points, 74-70, but Josh Lazaro’s offensive rebounding off Jason Credo’s missed FT gave the Blue Eagles another chance at the charity line.
Lazaro sunk both of his free throw, allowing the inevitable to happen, and extending the lead to 76-70.
“It was a great rivalry game between two proud universities and obviously we’re delighted we won that. Most importantly, I think we found some fight that was lacking last game,” exclaimed long time Ateneo Head Coach Tab Baldwin.
Chris Koon led the Blue Eagles in scoring with 19 in addition to seven rebounds and three assists on a plus-24 efficiency. Nigerian Joseph Obasa contributed 11 points, 16 rebounds, and three blocks to establish his inside presence.
Ateneo also dominated the offensive board with 27 versus La Salle’s only 15 offensive rebounds.
“All this rebounding was a bit key for us,” said rookie Amos.
“We just found the fight at the end. Just fighting until the end, that’s what we showed today.”
On the other hand, Kevin Quiambao tallied 17 points, seven assists, two blocks, and one steal on a losing effort for DLSU. Evan Nelle booked 15 points in a rough 4 out of 16 shooting.
Despite the rewarding win, Baldwin however was unhappy with the performance of his guys, stating that due to the emotion and intensity of the opposition, the result may be different.
“We did a better job but still you can’t be too happy shooting 33 per cent,” said Baldwin.
Ateneo looks forward to a better outing against Adamson, while La Salles hopes to go back to winning column against struggling UST on Saturday, Oct 7 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Featured image courtesy of UAAP
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