By Jun Ray Navarres
Ateneo de Manila University survived a massive fourth-quarter surge by De La Salle University to secure an 81-74 victory and remain the only unbeaten team in the UAAP Season 88 Men’s Basketball Tournament on Sunday at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
Playing in front of 17,185 screaming fans, the Blue Eagles appeared to be cruising to an easy win, leading by a commanding 33 points late in the third quarter.
Fueled by a strong showing from Dom Escobar and Kymani Ladi, Ateneo entered the final frame with a seemingly insurmountable 68-38 advantage.
“I think we have a choice to talk about three quarters of basketball or one quarter, and we’ll do both in the confines of our dugout and our next practice,” said head coach Tab Baldwin. “We’ll talk about that the way we played in the three quarters is just about as good as an Ateneo team has played for me I think, and that’s a big statement.”
But the Season 86 champions were far from finished.
Sparked by an aggressive defensive effort and timely scoring from Mason Amos, Mike Phillips, EJ Gollena, and Kean Baclaan, La Salle unleashed a historic 19-0 run to start the fourth quarter, cutting the lead to just 11 points, 57-68, with 4:03 left — sending the crowd into a frenzy.
Fortunately for Ateneo, Shawn Tuano stepped up to singlehandedly fend off the Green Archers’ approach.
The 6-foot-3 two-way cager dropped nine points in the last four minutes to withstand conversions from Jacob Cortez, EJ Gollena, and Phillips which trimmed the gap to as little as five points, 72-77.
“Obviously, full credit to La Salle and the comeback they made in the fourth quarter… In the fourth quarter, we played about as badly as an Ateneo team has played for me. Fortunately, it was only one quarter,” Baldwin added.
Ladi, Escobar, and Tuano each tallied 15 points apiece to keep Ateneo’s slate clean (4-0) and match their last season’s 4-10 record.
Captain Phillips led La Salle with 17 points along with 20 rebounds—14 of which coming offensively—six assists, one steal, and one block.
Returning Baclaan added 13 points and seven rebounds, while Cortez contributed 10 points.
Featured image courtesy of UAAP Media Bureau
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