By Jun Ray Navarres
LJ Gonzales hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to lift Far Eastern University University to a thrilling 62-59 victory over the Ateneo de Manila University in the UAAP Season 86 men’s basketball tournament on Wednesday at Mall of Asia Arena.
Gonzales shot 3-for-5 from beyond the arc all game including the most important three that sent them back to the winning column. He flirted with double-double of 19 points and nine rebounds in addition to four steals and five assists.
“Lagi naman nireremind sa akin ni Coach Denok (Miranda) na ako yung titira sa last shot, siguro miracle ‘yong nangyari siguro kasi hindi ko naman expect din ‘yon na papasok. Nagpapasalamat ako kay God kasi ginabayan niya ako,” the elated Gonzales said.
Before stealing the spotlight with the game winning shot, Gonzales first made a three which extended their lead to 10, 57-47 with 6:03 left on the clock.
Ateneo however, came back from the slump to drill a 9-0 run to clasp behind the Tamaraws, 56-57. Gonzales made a hard effort of evading three Blue Eagles to extend the lead back to three with 41.3 ticks left.
Ateneo’s Mason Amos continued his clutch game, putting the duel into a deadlock of 59 with his in-and-out-and-in three.
Series of turnovers cut the time down to 3.9 seconds with Xyrus Torres in the inbound play for FEU. Torres passed the ball to Gonzales who evaded Chris Koon by leaning in, drilling the one-handed three to win the game for FEU.
“Expected naman namin na babalik ‘yong Ateneo kasi grabe ‘yong team nila, sobrang disiplinado, eh. ‘Yong natutunan namin no’ng past games namin na kailangan sa mga ganong situations maging composed and maka-execute kami sa dulo – offense and defense,” said FEU head coach Denok, who became the first to sweep Tab Baldwin in the elimination round.
“Hats off sa mga player ko… Hopefully sa mga susunod na game namin ganon ang mindset, ganon ang mentality.”
Pat Sleat provided 12 points and eight rebounds while Jorick Bautista contributed 10 points.
Koon on the other hand scored 14 points while Amos dropped 11 baskets.
Featured photo courtesy of UAAP
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