MISSING THE supposedly game-winning triple in the last 6.4 seconds of the game, the Blue Eagles handed over the victory to the Lyceum of the Philippines University (LPU) Pirates, 90-89, on Monday, May 1 at the Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan City.
This puts the Blue Eagles at a 0-1 record in the elimination round of the 11th Filoil Flying V Preseason Premier Cup, where Ateneo competes in the Seniors Group A Division.
Mike Nieto led the Blue Eagles with 17 points and 8 rebounds, followed by Thirdy Ravena, who scored 14 points. Chibueze Ikeh was vital in securing Ateneo’s possessions, as he grabbed a total of 12 rebounds, and also contributed 13 points inside the paint.
This game featured the team’s first ever matchup with former Blue Eagle Cjay Perez, who is now playing for the Pirates. Perez supported LPU top scorer Jaycee Marcelino (14 pts) with 13 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists, providing additional firepower to LPU’s system.
The match started with LPU taking the lead, as Cjay Perez hit a triple to open the scoring. After Team Captain Vincent Tolentino fired a three to tie the score, Matt Nieto broke the stalemate, and maintained this one and only lead of the Blue Eagles through his combined efforts with Ravena. However, a 9-0 run by the Pirates saw the Blue Eagles come down by 8 at the end of the first quarter.
The second period saw the Blue Eagles’ attempt to rally back, as they outscored the Pirates, 25-20, in the quarter, but still failed to take the lead. Tyler Tio’s three cut the lead down to 5 (25-30), but the back-and-forth scoring of both teams froze the score gap to 5 points throughout the quarter. The LPU Pirates still had the lead by the end of the first half (39-42).
The second half opened with Ateneo inching closer to LPU’s lead, after Ikeh drew a foul and split his charities (40-42). However, the Pirates further extended their lead, leaving the Blue Eagles down by nine before Anton Asistio started to power the Blue Eagles again with two triples. Despite Asistio’s efforts to cut the deficit to 5 (59-64), LPU went on a 5-0 run, which was stopped by Raffy Verano’s buzzer beater at the end of the third.
The Blue Eagles showed more aggressive play in order to finally take the lead with one more quarter to go. More controlled ball movement allowed Blue Eagles Mike Nieto, Gian Mamuyac and Asistio to load the quarter with triples, trimming the deficit to five once again (82-87). After the team’s failed attempts to score free throws, Mike Nieto kept the Blue Eagles’ hopes alive by sinking in a triple in the dying moments of the match, that brought the score to 89-90. With one more field goal needed by the Blue Eagles to take the match in 6.4 seconds, Mike Nieto’s last ditch effort to score from the 3-point line fell short, which surrendered the game to the Pirates.
Head Coach Tab Baldwin admitted that the Blue Eagles’ performance was no match for LPU’s systematic pressure, causing the 27 turnovers committed. However, this experience gives an opportunity for the team to practice their own system since the primary focus has been to build up individual skill sets.
“Lyceum’s systematic pressure caused us a lot of problems and that really helps us understand where we need to focus our practices on,” said Coach Baldwin. “I think that Lyceum played a type of basketball where we haven’t been paying attention in our practices, so it’s okay. We’ve been working and working very hard; we’re working on a lot of things, but our press break and attention to offensive basketball needs a lot of work.”
The Blue Eagles will face one of their University Athletics Association of the Philippines counterparts, the University of the East Red Warriors, on Wednesday, May 3, 5PM at the Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan City.
Quarter scores (Ateneo-LPU): 14-22, 39-42, 61-69, 89-90
Box scores:
Ateneo: Mike Nieto- 17, Ravena- 14, Ikeh- 13, Asistio- 13, Matt Nieto- 8, Verano- 5, Mendoza- 5, Tolentino- 3, Tio- 3, Wong- 3, Mamuyac- 3, Porter- 2, Black- 0, Go- 0, Ildefonso- 0, White- 0
LPU: Jaycee Marcelino- 14, Perez- 13, Ayaay- 13, Tansingco- 12, Jayvee Marcelino- 11, Pretta- 10, Caduyac- 6, Baltazar- 3, Ibanez- 2, Nzeusseu- 2, Santos- 2, Marata- 2
The Blue Eagles handed over the victory to the Lyceum of the Philippines University (LPU) Pirates, 90-89, on Monday, May 1 at the Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan City.
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