FOR THE second afternoon in a row, Anton Asistio lit up the nets as the Ateneo Blue Eagles emerged victorious against the Jose Rizal University (JRU) Heavy Bombers in the FilOil Preseason Premier Cup on June 12 at the FilOil Flying V Arena.
The sweet-shooting guard finished with 17 points with 3 three-pointers on efficient 4 of 6 from the field, lifting the Blue Eagles to positive results with big numbers from beyond the arc.
While Asistio was the only Blue Eagle in double figures, he received scoring help from Raffy Verano’s 8 points on 4/4 shooting and Isaac Go’s 7 points.
The game was a low-scoring affair, as the teams struggled to make shots all throughout the game and finished shooting below 35% from the field. Ateneo relied heavily on rebounding to get themselves extra possessions, as they grabbed 23 offensive boards en route to a 55-35 advantage on the glass. Ikeh led the way in this department, nabbing 13 rebounds, 8 of which were on the offensive side. Mike Nieto and Thirdy Ravena both grabbed 6 boards, with Juwaun White, Aaron Black, and newly-recruited Troy Mallillin each hauling in 5 rebounds of their own.
After the game, Coach Tab Baldwin commended Mallillin. “He fell on our lap. This is a kid with immense talent. We’re thrilled with his attitude, his toughness, and with his desire to learn. We look for big things from that kid,” he said.
In spite of this, Baldwin knows that the former National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Juniors MVP has a lot to catch up on. “He doesn’t know a lot yet, he hasn’t spent a lot of time with us in practice. We’re a team that believes in bonding ourselves,” he added.
On the Gold and Black side, the JRU Heavy Bombers relied on the trio of Darius Estrella, Ervin Grospe, and Teytey Teodoro for most of their scoring, as each finished in double figures. Estrella had 14 points with 4 three-pointers to lead the team, while Grospe and Teodoro finished with 11 and 10 markers, respectively.
The Heavy Bombers started the game strong on both sides, forcing turnovers on Tyler Tio and Ravena and getting a couple of three-pointers from Estrella to jump ahead at 10-2. Asistio would proceed to knock down back-to-back threes to force a JRU timeout and keep Ateneo within arms reach at 10-8. However, Grospe would score the next 5 points for the Heavy Bombers, giving his squad a 15-11 lead after the first frame.
Ateneo would begin the second on a 7-0 run led by buckets from Verano and Mike Nieto to take the lead at 18-15. However, the lead would be short-lived for the Blue Eagles as triples from Teodoro and back-to-back triples from Estrella boosted JRU’s lead to 6 right before the break. A nifty pass from Jolo Mendoza to Vince Tolentino would cut into the lead, and the score would settle at a 30-26 JRU advantage heading into the halftime break.
In the third quarter, the teams would begin to battle for the lead. With JRU ahead by 6 early in the second half, Asistio would knock down and three and Tio would hit a jumper to cut it to 1. A few possessions later, Go finally evened up the score at 36-36 by knocking in a shot from beyond the arc. The teams would see-saw with the lead for the latter half of the third, with the lever tipping to Ateneo at 43-42 entering the fourth.
The final frame would see Ateneo slowly pull away, beginning with a Ravena corner triple. The Blue Eagles would then go on a 9-2 run bannered by six Asistio freebies and an Ikeh and-1 to boost their lead to 9 at 57-48 with just 2:55 remaining. Teodoro would knock in a three, but Tolentino would follow up on a Mike Nieto miss to bring the score to 59-51 with a minute and a half left. Ateneo would fortify their defense for the final 90 seconds, and the score would stay the same as the Blue Eagles grabbed the victory.
Even with the recent individual success, the fifth year guard sung praises for his teammates. “It’s really part of our system [to move] the ball, and they know I can shoot so they try to set me up as much as possible,” Asistio said.
With the win, the Ateneo Blue Eagles (4-2) move just one victory away from clinching a quarterfinals birth. They have two remaining games slated: a June 14 match-up with the University of Perpetual Atlas (2-5) at 3:15 PM, and a battle versus the undefeated San Beda Red Lions (6-0) at 5 PM.
Quarter Scores: 11-15, 26-30, 43-42, 59-51
Ateneo – Asistio – 17, Verano – 8, Go – 7, Mi. Nieto – 5, Ravena – 5, Tolentino – 4, Ikeh – 4, Ma. Nieto – 2, Mallillin – 2, Mendoza – 2, Tio – 2 , White – 1, Black – 0, Andrade – 0, Porter – 0
JRU – Estrella – 14, Grospe – 11, Teodoro – 10, Lasquety – 4, Poutouochi – 4, Abdulwahab – 2, Mendoza – 2, Bordon – 2, Mate – 2, Dela Virgen – 0, Sawat – 0
