AFTER TRAILING late in overtime, Angelo Kouame lit up for eight straight points to help the Ateneo Blue Eagles outlast archrivals De La Salle University (DLSU), 81-75, in the FilOil Flying V Preseason Cup on Tuesday, June 12, at the FilOil Flying V Arena in San Juan.

The win allows Ateneo to enter the quarterfinals as the top seed in Group A with a perfect 9-0 record while the Green Archers stay at the second spot with a 7-2 record.

Thirdy Ravena topscored for Ateneo with 17 points on ⅔ shooting from deep. Kouame garnered a monster double-double of 16 markers and 18 rebounds to go with 6 blocks, while Isaac Go contributed 10 points to round up the double digit scorers for the Blue Eagles.

Meanwhile, Leonard Santillan led the way for La Salle with 19 points and 9 rebounds with fellow big man Justine Baltazar adding 16 markers and 13 boards. Aljun Melecio chipped in 15 points and three triples while Jollo Go contributed 8 points which included the game-tying basket to send the game into overtime.

To start the match, DLSU sprinted to a 7-0 lead as they took advantage of Ateneo’s cold start. Coach Tab Baldwin’s men finally broke the dry spell in the six-minute mark with a Matt Nieto triple. Both teams continued to exchange baskets before the Blue Eagles tightened up on defense, resulting in back-to-back fastbreak layups by Ravena and Gian Mamuyac that secured the lead for Ateneo, 14-11. A corner triple by Santillan ended the first quarter with Ateneo on top, 18-14.

The Blue Eagles continued to deploy their suffocating defense at the start of the second frame, scoring nine straight points to erect the largest lead of the game, 27-14. However, Andrei Caracut’s inspired play reenergized the Green Archers as they countered with an 8-0 run to trim the deficit down to four. Ravena’s baseline jumper ended the half, with the Blue Eagles maintaining a six-point lead, 34-28.

The Katipunan-based side continued to keep the Green Archers at arm’s length until the midway point of the third quarter when Santillan and Melecio combined for seven straight points to tie the game at 39 all. This swung the momentum in La Salle’s favor as they poured consecutive buckets to put up their largest lead since the first quarter, 46-51. The Blue Eagles finally gained traction after a timeout as Mike Nieto’s layup cut the La Salle lead to one at the end of the period, 52-53.

Back-to-back baskets from Jolo Mendoza and Adrian Wong returned the lead to the Blue and White, 57-53, to begin the fourth quarter. After trading baskets, successive technical fouls prevented the Blue Eagles from pulling away as Wong was penalized for faking a foul and the Ateneo bench was punished for improper decorum after protesting a controversial call.

The Ateneo faithful erupted in a wave of boos, but the Green and White used it as inspiration to tie the game at 62-all via a Jollo Go and-one play. With the match on course for a nail-biting finish, Ravena took it upon himself to regain the lead with an elbow jumper. After a defensive stop in the ensuing play, Ravena once again delivered, icing the game with a huge step back three to make it a two possession game, 70-66, with 23.5 seconds remaining.

Not giving up just yet, Melecio came out of the timeout to hit a difficult pull up three over Wong to bring the lead down to one. After Isaac Go split his free throws, the Green Archers had a small window of opportunity to tie the game with 1.3 seconds remaining. Coming out of a series of screens, Caracut found a cutting Jollo Go inside for a layup to tie the game. With 0.3 seconds remaining, Kouame missed a last ditch alley oop attempt as regulation ended in a deadlock, 71-71.

DLSU continued to step on the pedal in overtime as a Jollo Go triple gave the Taft-based side a two-point lead with less than two minutes remaining. With the pressure soaring and the game at stake, Kouame took over by scoring six straight points to put the game away. A free throw split by Ravena sealed the final score, 81-75.

After the game, Baldwin was disappointed with how his team played, pointing out the lack of grit and determination in the Blue Eagles’ performance. “I thought La Salle probably played with a bit more grit, a bit more toughness than we did,” the Kiwi-mentor said. “I would prefer to probably compliment them [DLSU] for the effort that they put in today than to make any positive comments about my team.”

Like Baldwin, Ravena also refused to feel good about the game, ruing the team’s over-excitement. “At the start of the game, we were too frenetic so we weren’t really able to execute our offensive and defensive tactics,” he said.

However, the veteran forward was quick to give credit to the Green Archers for giving them a tough match, especially Santillan. “Malaking bagay siya sa team niya [He was very important to his team],” Ravena said. Hindi mo nakikita sa stats sheet, pero hustle and mga intangibles, siya talaga yung gumagawa  [You don’t see it in the stat sheet, but he showed a lot of hustle and carried out the intangibles].”

Kouame on the other hand shared the experience of playing in his first Ateneo-La Salle matchup, “I felt pressured, especially before the game,” he admitted. “My teammates told me they’re a tough team, and we gotta do a lot of good things [to win], but I prayed for it.”

Quarter Scores:

Ateneo-La Salle: 18-14, 34-28, 52-53, 71-71, 81-75 (OT)

Box Score:

Ateneo (81): Ravena – 17, Kouame – 16, Go – 10, Wong – 8, Nieto, Ma. – 6, Mamuyac – 5, Verano – 5, Nieto, Mi. – 4, Belangel – 3, Mendoza – 3, White – 2, Black – 2, Maagdenberg – 0, Asistio – 0, Navarro – 0, Tio – 0

La Salle (75): Santillan – 19, Baltazar – 16, Melecio – 15, Go – 8, Samuel – 6, Caracut – 4, Dyke – 3, Manuel – 2, Capacio – 2, Lim – 0, Bates – 0, Manaytay – 0