THE ATENEO Blue Eagles fell short against the National University (NU) Bulldogs, 74-78, despite having another comeback run in the fourth quarter. The Blue Eagles’ late-game offensive surge in the final period was not enough to overcome the Bulldogs’ accuracy from the field and the free throw line. Ateneo’s loss gives NU their very first win in the Final Four since the introduction of the format.
“The one thing that we really wanted to do, which was to have a good start did not happen,” said Ateneo Head Coach Bo Perasol. “I think that’s why we were catching up the whole game and at this time, we were not able to get good breaks at the end.”
The Blue Eagles struggled in the first half of the game as they trailed with a score of 32-44. Ateneo only shot 32.43% from the field, while the Bulldogs tallied 68%, coupled with five three pointers after the first two quarters.
The Bulldogs continued their hot shooting in the second half as Gelo Alolino and JJ Alejandro led the charge for NU. Their accuracy from beyond the arc positioned Ateneo down by ten points, 50-60, going into the final quarter. As the game entered the fourth period, the Bulldogs were able to pad their advantage to fifteen with the Blue Eagles trailing, 53-68.
Despite the deficit, Ateneo consistently attacked NU’s defensive pressure and garnered points from the foul line. With Kiefer Ravena and Chris Newsome leading the charge, the Blue Eagles were able to bounce back with timely three pointers and aggressiveness inside the paint. Ateneo sparked a 19-4 run capped off by a Nico Elorde triple that gave Ateneo the 72-71 advantage.
But the game slipped away from the Katipunan-based squad as the Bulldogs were able to capitalize on the penalty situation. NU pulled away from the Blue Eagles as they ended the game with a 7-2 run, with all of their points coming from the free throw line.
Season 77 MVP Ravena led the game in scoring with 24 points, despite shooting only 9/35 from the field. Newsome and Elorde followed with 14 and 12 points respectively. The Blue Eagles shot only 34.67% compared to NU’s 51.02%. Even though Ateneo turned the ball over seven times, compared to NU’s 26, the Blue Eagles only managed to rack up 14 points off the Bulldogs’ errors.
“A team like NU is very disciplined and well-coached and we have to do better than that,” expressed Perasol in a mix of English and Filipino on how they struggled to take advantage of the Bulldogs’ turnovers.
Ateneo will face the Bulldogs in a rubber match next Wednesday, 2:00 PM at the Araneta Coliseum for a spot in the finals series of the UAAP.
Clearly, Bo isn’t a winner. 6 times in a row against NU? Gawd!
And to Ateneo Traffic management, don’t be like Bo! You have 5 gates for crying out loud. Don’t use just 1! man, it takes an hour to get in and out of the campus nowadays. Ridiculous!