ATENEO BOUNCES BACK FROM CONSECUTIVE LOSSES, DEFEATS UE
By Maxine Louise Lagman
19 October 2016
THE former Blue Eaglets top-shooting guard, Jolo Mendoza, took the lead in the second quarter to pull away from an early 7-21 deficit against University of the East and helped Ateneo win the game, 75-61 on Wednesday at the Filoil Arena.
Mendoza, who was moved to point guard, exploded for Ateneo and scored all his 15 points in the first half of the game to end their slow and bad start against UE and turned the game back to Ateneo’s side.
The Eagles was able to overhaul UE’s lead with an 18-5 finish to the second period and ended a 42-37 score for the first half and never looked back to end the game triumphantly.
After a two-consecutive loss against De La Salle University and University of the Philippines, Ateneo was able to bounce back and finally improved their record to 5-4 in the league standings, holding on to third place behind DLSU and Far Eastern University.
“It’s really a tough game when we play UE. They got into a big lead and they hit their shots. Good thing, our bench guys helped us out both on offense and defense,” said Ateneo Assistant Coach Sandy Arespacochaga.
Mendoza led the team with 15 points, which he scored in the first half of the game. Thirdy Ravena added 14 points and five rebounds, while Adrian Wong and Mike Nieto had 11 and 10 points, respectively. Aaron Black returned for Ateneo and had four points.
Despite Philip Manalang’s 16 points, five rebounds and RR De Leon’s 13 points and five rebounds, UE dropped to league-worst 2-7 record.
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