14 November 2018
By Maxine Louise Lagman
Manila, Philippines – Despite being top seed , Ateneo De Manila University continued to execute a dominating game plan against the University of Santo Tomas and took a 102-62 win on Wednesday in the UAAP Season 81 men’s basketball tournament at the Mall of Asia Arena.
With the win, the Blue Eagles ended their elimination round campaign on a high note with a 12-2 win-loss record. They need to wait for Sunday games to know which team they will have to face in the FInal Four.
Ateneo was hot on their heels from the get-go and blasted a commanding 16-0 run in the opening salvo.
Team captain Marvin Lee tried to stop the Tigers’ bleeding in the five-minute mark with a floater, but their opponents just kept answering back with back-to-back shots from all over the court that pushed them down to 21-points, 13-34.
Ateneo was such a great force to be reckoned with and stretched their lead by 27 points at the half, 58-31, and even outscored the Tigers in the third quarter, 25-11.
Without super rookie CJ Cansino, after suffering from an ACL injury last Saturday in their game against University of the Philippines, UST spiraled down the game as Blue Eagle BJ Andrade put the booming triple in the basket to put Ateneo in the 100-point mark.
Angelo Kouame paved the way for the Blue Eagles with 22 points and nine rebounds, highlighted by a slam dunk in the third quarter that gave Ateneo a 68-33 lead. William Navarro added 17 markers in the win.
Meanwhile, Renzo Subido led UST with 18 points. Tobi Agustin and rookie Joshua Marcos had 15 markers and 13 points, respectively, as the Growling Tigers ended their season campaign on a 5-9 win-loss record.
The Scores:
ATENEO 102 – Kouame 22, Navarro 17, Mendoza 9, Andrade 9, Go 8, Ravena 6, Asistio 6, Nieto Ma 5, Nieto Mi 5, Black 4, Verano 4, Daves 4, Belangel 3, Wong 0, Tio 0, Mamuyac 0
UST 62 – Subido 18, Agustin 15, Marcos 13, Mahinay 6, Huang 4, Lee 2, Ando 2, Cosejo 2, Bataller 0, Zamora 0, Bonleon 0, Caunan 0
Quarter scores: 34-13, 58-31, 83-42, 102-62
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