A DÉJÀ vu experience for the Ateneo Blue Eagles as LJay Gonzales’s dagger three helps the Far Eastern University (FEU) Tamaraws escape the Blue Eagles’ late scoring rally, 59-62. The University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Men’s Basketball Tournament thriller was held earlier this afternoon at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
Ateneo’s fourth loss of the season puts them back at an equal .500 record, placing them in fourth place in the standings. FEU, on the other hand, remains in sixth place after completing the series sweep against the Blue Eagles.
In the loss, Chris Koon led all scorers for Ateneo with 14 points and three assists while Mason Amos dropped 11 points and sank three three-pointers.
Gonzales stuffed the stat sheet for FEU with 9 rebounds, five dimes, four steals, and a game-high 19 points—including a game-winning triple that sealed the coffin for the resurrecting Blue Eagles.
It was an awkward start for the Blue and White, as their staple perimeter game was yet to be found early in the contest. The Katipunan-based team had to adapt and rely on the paint to generate some baskets against the Tamaraws. After struggling to find momentum from the starting five, a pick-and-roll action from second-unit players Jason Credo and Geo Chiu would put the trailing Ateneo within one point, 8-9.
With less than two minutes left in the first period, Gonzales would then establish the early lead for the Tamaraws. The fifth-year guard bolstered his team’s quick 6-0 run as he nailed a three-point jumper off a crafty crossover against Amos with 56 seconds left on the clock, 13-8.
Josh Lazaro aided Ateneo’s worsening wound by splitting his charity line attempts to bring the squad within six points at the end of the canto, 9-15.
The defending champions bounced back at the onset of the second frame, as they leaned on their inside shooting to inch closer to FEU’s lead. Starting Point Guard Jared Brown sank a floater during the six-minute mark of the second quarter to even the game and force FEU to use a quick breather, 19-19.
Co-captain Koon then alleviated the Blue Eagles’ perimeter problems by drilling a three-pointer to cap off the squad’s 12-4 run and retake the lead, 22-19. FEU’s bigman Mouhamed Faty halted Ateneo’s fiery momentum by converting an and-one off the inbound to knot the ballgame up once again. FEU then caught the Blue Eagles off-guard with a quick five-point burst courtesy of Aeron Bagunu’s trey and Miguel Ona’s easy layup off the turnover. Ateneo would call a huddle to regroup as they found themselves on the Tams’ heels once again with 2:30 minutes left in the first half.
After a couple of sequences, FEU extended their lead to six as Patrick Sleat drilled his penalty shots, 30-24. Amos responded by knocking down a jumper from deep to finish Ateneo’s first half with the deficit down to three, 27-30.
A back-and-forth affair ensued in the third canto, as neither side proved to gain much ground throughout the frame, ending the quarter having scored 14 points each. Despite the Blue Eagles cutting the lead down to one with only a couple of ticks left on the clock, a mid-range buzzer-beater from Jorick Bautista extended FEU’s cushion to three to end the third quarter, 44-41.
Entering the final frame, Bautista continued his hot streak by knocking down back-to-back triples, going on his own personal 8-0 run, 50-43. A couple of baskets from Gonzales eventually led to the Tamaraws’ lead ballooning to nine, their biggest margin of the game, forcing Ateneo to call for time, 54-45.
However, after one final three-pointer by FEU, a spirited 9-0 Blue Eagle run spearheaded by co-captain Koon threatened the Tamaraws’ plans of running away with the ball game, 56-57. Undeterred by the sudden shift in momentum, FEU’s Gonzales attacked the paint, unbothered by the towering Obasa as he dropped in a crafty layup, 59-56.
Off an Atenean timeout, the Blue Eagles had 24 seconds to work with in order to force a final deadlock. As Koon was left with little room to chuck up a three-pointer, the veteran found sharpshooting rookie Amos who knocked down a sorely-needed long-range bomb to tie the game at 59-all.
After an empty possession by the Morayta-based cagers, the Blue and White found themselves with an opportunity to ice the game at the buzzer. However, with three seconds remaining, Ballungay failed to connect with Ian Espinosa and instead threw away his inbound pass to the stands. This turnover gave The Tamaraws one last attempt to send Ateneo home with about three and a half seconds left on the clock.
With the game on the line, Gonzales was tasked with getting off the final shot for FEU. Getting past the outstretched arms of Ateneo’s co-captain Koon, the 5’11” point guard drilled in the game-winning dagger to complete the Tamaraws’ elimination sweep of their Katipunan-based foes, 62-59.
As they find themselves on the losing end of a walk-off game-winner once again, the Blue Eagles will look to bounce back against a tough assignment in rivals University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons on Sunday, 6:00 PM at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Cubao, Quezon City.
Box scores:
Ateneo (59): Koon – 14, Amos – 11, Ballungay – 9, Obasa – 7, Espinosa – 7, Brown – 6, Quitevis – 2, Chiu – 2, Lazaro – 1
FEU (62): Gonzales – 19, Sleat – 12, Bautista – 10, Torres – 7, Faty – 7, Bagunu – 5, Ona – 2
Quarter scores:
Ateneo-FEU: 9-15, 27-30, 41-44, 59-62
Current Standings (W-L)
- NU Bulldogs (7-1)
- UP Fighting Maroons (6-1)
- DLSU Green Archers (5-3)
- ATENEO Blue Eagles (4-4)
- ADU Soaring Falcons (3-4)
- FEU Tamaraws (3-5)
- UE Red Warriors (2-6)
- UST Growling Tigers (1-7)
