IN A season rife with gut-wrenching setbacks in the clutch, the Ateneo Blue Eagles buckled down in the final minutes of a pivotal duel against the Adamson University’s (AdU) Soaring Falcons, 62-58. The battle for control of fourth place was held earlier today at the Smart Araneta Coliseum at Quezon City.
With their win in a game with heavy Final Four implications, Ateneo (6-6) moves over Adamson (5-7) for hold of the last postseason slot with two games left in the elimination round. In a chance where both teams finish with the same record, the Blue Eagles will also hold the tiebreaker over the Soaring Falcons via margin of victory.
In his breakout performance, Team Co-captain Sean Quitevis scored 12 points to lead the Blue Eagles, in addition to his eight rebounds. Meanwhile, Joseph Obasa and Kai Ballungay dropped 10 markers apiece to help the Blue and White in staving off the Soaring Falcons.
On the other hand, AdU’s Matthew Montebon tallied a game-high 13 points off 55% field goal shooting, while copping four boards, and one steal to lead the San Marcelino-based cagers albeit in a losing effort.
With the last ticket to the Final Four potentially on the line, both teams came out of the gates by deploying their pesky defensive sets for a relatively low-scoring back-and-forth affair. However, with less than a minute remaining in the period and the game tied at 13, Ateneo’s Ian Espinosa scored five straight points to give the Blue Eagles an 18-13 advantage at the end of the first quarter.
After a relatively quiet opening quarter, the Blue and White turned on the burners and eventually found their rhythm on the offensive end to start the second period. Ateneo’s defensive gambits created multiple stops which paid dividends for the Blue Eagles but allowed Adamson to enter the penalty halfway into the quarter. Despite early foul trouble, rookie Mason Amos’ four-point play allowed the Blue Eagles to close out the first half with a comfortable 38-29 lead.
Fresh from intermission, the Katipunan-based unit did not convert a field goal until Ballungay’s made triple with seven minutes remaining in the third, 42-32. Due to a string of error-laden offensive possessions by Ateneo, the Soaring Falcons quickly mounted a surge, cutting the Blue Eagle advantage to 41-42 at the 2:10 mark. Adamson eventually took control of the driver’s seat at the 1:25 mark with a Magbuhos driving layup, putting the San Marcelino squad up 43-42.
Despite the Blue and White’s history as a dominant post-halftime team, Season 86 has been a tournament of atrocious third quarters for them. Didap Hanapi added to the Blue Eagles’ ugly quarter, as he scored six Adamson points in the canto’s final minute to deal Ateneo their biggest deficit at 42-49. Fittingly, the Tab Baldwin-coached team only tallied four points and gave up nine whopping turnovers to Adamson in the frame.
Ateneo opened the fourth having seemingly shrugged off the previous frame, fiercely trimming the Soaring Falcons’ margin to 46-49 with just over a minute played. It was Quitevis’ efforts on both ends that sparked Ateneo’s fightback, capped by a fastbreak two by Ballungay that deadlocked the game at 52 with 6:01 remaining. Midway of the deciding quarter, Montebon and Jared Brown then exchanged makes from the perimeter to clip the contest at 55-apiece.
An Obasa close-range attempt was ruled good after a goaltending call, helping the Blue Eagles regain control of the critical duel with 3:55 left, 58-55. After a series of misfired opportunities by both squads, Erolon drilled a much-needed trey for Adamson to shave it to a mere one-point Ateneo advantage, 59-58.
With a chance for the Soaring Falcons to take the lead, Cedrick Manzano failed to retrieve an intended pass to him with under 50 seconds remaining. On the succeeding sequence, Chris Koon’s bad outing continued, as he clanked two free-throws that could have given the Blue Eagles a three-point cushion with 46 seconds to go.
Despite multiple chances for a go-ahead bucket, the Soaring Falcons were overwhelmed by the Blue Eagles’ defensive length and effort, with Quitevis being fouled and sent to the stripe after Ateneo secured a defensive board. The co-captain missed his second free-throw attempt, but Obasa snagged an all-crucial offensive rebound with 3.3 seconds left. The foreign student-athlete then sank both of his charity shots, delivering Ateneo a potential season-saving 62-58 victory.
With a chance to solidify their hold of the four seed, the Blue Eagles play the University of the East Red Warriors on Wednesday, 11:00 AM at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Box scores:
Ateneo (62): Quitevis – 12, Obasa – 10, Ballungay – 10, Koon – 8, Espinosa – 7, Amos – 6, Credo – 4, Brown – 3, Lazaro – 2
AdU (58): Montebon – 13, Calisay – 9, Erolon – 8, Magbuhos – 7, Manzano – 6, Hanapi – 6, Yerro – 5, Ramos – 2, Ojarikre – 2
Quarter scores:
Ateneo-AdU: 18-13, 38-29, 42-49, 62-58
Current Standings (W-L)
- UP Fighting Maroons (10-2)
- NU Bulldogs (10-2)
- DLSU Green Archers (8-3)
- ATENEO Blue Eagles (6-6)
- AdU Soaring Falcons (5-7)
- UE Red Warriors (4-7)
- FEU Tamaraws (3-9)
- UST Growling Tigers (1-11)
