THE ATENEO Blue Eagles return from a brief two-week layoff with a 72-55 blowout win over the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Growling Tigers earlier tonight at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.
The win elevates Ateneo to a 7-3 record, securing their spot as the third seed in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 85 standings with four games remaining in the regular season.
Team Captain BJ Andrade starred in the Blue Eagles’ impeccable night with 14 points, four rebounds, two assists, and one steal. Reigning Most Valuable Player (MVP) Ange Kouame helped him out and tallied 14 points, seven rebounds, and three blocks.
The Blue Eagles kicked off the first quarter with a slow start, as the UST defense clamped up the paint and forced them to find offense beyond the three-point arc. The España-based squad went up 10-3 at the start of the quarter led by their ace Nic Cabanero. Once Cabanero was subbed out to rest, the Ateneo defense started integrating a zone, quickly recovering with a 19-0 run to finish the quarter up 22-10.
The UST star came back in for the second frame to help stop the bleeding for his squad. A corner three from Cabanero halted the UST scoring drought and helped spark a comeback as they cut the Ateneo lead to six, 27-21. An unsportsmanlike foul called on Paul Manalang turned the momentum back over to Ateneo, which helped the Blue Eagles keep UST at bay. Ateneo continued to struggle in attacking the paint, but sweet shooting from Andrade, Chris Koon, and Paul Garcia kept them afloat to end the quarter up 35-27.
In typical Ateneo fashion, the Blue Eagles came out of halftime with their wings spread wide. Ateneo opened up the third frame with a swift 10-0 run as they shut down the UST offense on one end, and pushed the pace on the other. UST only managed to squeeze out 10 points in the entire quarter while Ateneo’s patented ball movement and spacing saw them drop 27 points in the third canto, 62-37.
The Ateneo offense quickly cooled off in the third quarter though, as they gave up a 15-2 run in UST’s favor as Cabanero tried to get his team back in the last stretch. A three from JC Fetalvero helped keep Ateneo on top of the Growling Tigers, fending off UST’s late comeback attempt to win the match 72-55.
The Blue Eagles will seek to claim their third-straight win as they take on the resurgent Far Eastern University Tamaraws at 11:00 AM on Sunday, November 22 at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
Box Scores:
Ateneo (72): Andrade – 14, Kouame – 14, Padrigao – 10, Koon – 9, Ildefonso – 5, Garcia – 5, Chiu – 4, Lazaro – 3, Fornilos – 3, Fetalvero – 3, Ballungay – 2
UST (55): Cabanero – 26, Faye – 10, Pangilinan – 6, Manalang – 6, Duremdes – 5, Manaytay – 2
Quarter Scores:
Ateneo-UST: 22-10, 35-27, 62-37, 72-55
