THE BLUE and White garnered a third consecutive blowout victory in today’s match, as they defeated the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Growling Tigers, 85-53, on Saturday, September 29, at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan City.
The Blue Eagles’ effort on defense saw them hold UST to a tournament low in field goal percentage (FG%), with the Growling Tigers going 18/68 from the field, or 26.47%. The Blue and White also held UST’s bench, the second ranked in the league, to a tournament low of 4 bench points. The Blue Eagles also put up a season high in terms of Offensive Rating with 120.43 while playing their slowest game with a pace of 70.58.
Angelo Kouame put up a career showing, contributing 20 points on 8/9 shooting (89%), to go along with 15 rebounds and four blocks in nearly twenty minutes of play. Rookie SJ Belangel also displayed much improved play, as he scored seven points, grabbed two rebounds, an assist, and finished with no turnovers in arguably his best showing of the season so far.
In the first quarter, the Blue Eagles got the ball rolling immediately with a quick bucket off a Thirdy Ravena jumper ten seconds in. The pace of the game would then quickly show as both teams resulted to a full-court press after every made basket. Ravena would then continue to put up points on the board with a finish under the basket, and an isolation triple serving as his next two baskets. The Blue Eagles’ tough defensive efforts also showed about eight minutes into the quarter, when they forced a 24 second shot clock violation from the Tigers. Eventually, a Belangel basket off a spin-move finish would see the Eagles end the quarter with a nine-point advantage (19-10).
Kouame would make his presence known in the second quarter by grabbing numerous boards and points in the post, including a monstrous slam four minutes in to prompt a UST timeout with the Eagles leading by fifteen (27-12). The Ivorian eventually found himself ending the quarter on arguably his best first-half showing of the season with 12 points on 6/6/ shooting from the field to go along with 7 rebounds.
Exiting halftime, the UST defense found themselves alternating between 1-2-2 and 2-2-1 full-court presses in hopes of delaying the Blue Eagles from getting comfortable on offense. This decision however, worked against UST’s favour as the Blue and White exploited the gaps to get numerous good looks at the basket including a Ravena jumper about three minutes in. The Blue Eagle continued to showcase their impressive effort on defense by ending the quarter with a good defensive stop on Steve Akomo.
In the fourth and final quarter, Kouame continued his strong showing in the first half with impressive displays on both offense and defense. About five minutes into the quarter, the Ivorian big man showed out on defense by recording back-to-back blocks in less than seconds. In the next possession, Kouame then grabbed an offensive rebound and finished strong under the basket in what would turn out to be his last on-court contribution for the game. The Ivorian then found himself walking off to a standing ovation and a large round of applause from the Blue Eagle faithful with about four minutes left on the clock. In the later stages of the quarter, tempers flared as a double unsportsmanlike foul was called on BJ Andrade and Germy Mahinay with thirteen seconds left in the game. The Blue Eagles eventually took the game, 85-53.
Following the game, Belangel spoke about the importance of team effort in today’s match, saying, “It was a team effort—down to the last man [everyone] contributed.”
With their win-loss standing now at 4-1, the Blue Eagles will be looking to go for a fifth consecutive win against their archivals, the De La Salle University (DLSU) Green Archers, at 4PM on Saturday, October 6, at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
QUARTER SCORES:
Ateneo-UE: 19-10, 37-18, 61-35, 85-53
BOX SCORES:
Ateneo (85): Kouame – 20, Ravena – 11, Go – 8, Asistio – 8, Belangel – 7, Mi. Nieto – 6, Ma. Nieto – 5, Daves- 4, Tio – 4, Wong – 3, Andrade – 3, Navarro – 2, Black – 2, Mamuyac – 2
UST (53): Subido – 19, Cansino – 15, Akomo – 9, Huang – 6, Lee – 2, Mahinay – 2
