TEAM GLORY Be of the Ateneo Men’s Basketball team fell to the University of the East (UE) Red Warriors, 66-78, on Monday, May 11 at the Arellano University gym.
Both CJ Perez and Anton Asistio served as the focal points of Coach Yuri Escueta’s offense. The styles of the two couldn’t be more different—Perez scored 15 points using a bevy of athletic moves to get to the rim while Asistio methodically broke down the UE defense for clean shots to earn 12 points in the game.
Ateneo struggled with the vaunted full-court press defense displayed by their opponents throughout the game. The third quarter ended with a score of 59-48 in favor of UE due to the numerous turnovers made by the Blue and White during the stretch.
Despite the errors, Team Glory Be managed to trim the lead to single digits in the fourth quarter. Back to back layups by Perez sparked the team’s final push, with contributions by Thirdy Ravena and Asistio helping to put the game within reach. The run was punctuated with center Jay Javelosa giving an outlet pass to Perez for the fastbreak finish to put the score at 64-70.
Ateneo’s momentum, however, was put to an end when a three-man collision left Ravena with an injured wrist. The exchanged proved costly as the Blue and White failed to regain their composure afterwards and eventually ceded the game.
“UE plays up and down and they had 20 players so they could press all day,” Coach Escueta says of their opponent. “You have to give it to them.”
The loss puts the team at 2-3 in the elimination round standings of the Fr. Martin Summer Cup, a tournament which hosts teams competing in both the UAAP and NCAA tournaments.
