Blue Eagles overpower Falcons for 8th straight win
By Maxine Louise Lagman
14 October 2017
Ateneo Blue Eagles bagged their eight straight win in the UAAP Season 80 men’s basketball tournament after defeating Adamson University mercilessly, 71-59, Saturday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
With the win, Ateneo kept their place at the top spot with an 8-0 card, while Adamson dropped to the third spot with a 5-3 card behind defending champion La Salle, 6-2.
Despite having an impressive record coming into the second round, Ateneo kept their focus on the coming games.
“We are really not looking at our standings, because what coach Tab wants us to look at is the next game,” said assistant coach Sandy Arespacochaga. “The key is that we need to improve every game.”
It was a close first half, but the Blue Eagles was able to pull away from Adamson with a 13-point lead, 54-41 coming into the playoff period.
BJ Andrade shot a booming triple in the last two minutes of the game to notch Ateneo’s biggest lead, 71-50.
“It was a defensive game and Adamson is a very good defensive team also,” added Arespacochaga. “We wanted to make sure that our defense would lead to opportunities for us on the break.”
With Ateneo’s tough defense, the Adamson squad shot a terrible 1-for-18 shooting from the field and was also limited to five assists.
Thirdy Ravena led the Blue Eagles with 15 points on 5-for-9 shooting and nine rebounds, while Vince Tolentino chipped in eight points and six boards.
Meanwhile, Papi Sarr had 15 points and was limited to nine boards.
The Scores:
ADMU 71 – Ravena 15, Tolentino 8, Go 8, Ikeh 7, Black 7, Nieto Mi 6, Asistio 4, Verano 3, Tio 3, Mendoza 3, Andrade 3, Nieto Ma 2, Porter 2, Mamuyac 0, Malillin 0, White 0
ADU 59 – Sarr 15, Pingoy 9, Ahanmisi 6, Hill 6, Espeleta 5, Mustre 5, Manganti 4, Camacho 2, Lojera 2, Ochea 2, Zaldivar 2, Manalang 1, Bernardo 0, Chua 0, Paranada 0
Quarterscores: 16-10, 31-24, 54-41, 71-59
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