THE UNIVERSITY Athletic Association of the Philippines will have a new Men’s 3×3 Basketball champion as the Ateneo Blue Eagles finish with a 2-4 record–eliminating them from Final Four contention. The games were held at Millennial Resorts in Calatagan, Batangas earlier today.
It was the “Battle of Katipunan” in the Blue Eagles’ first game of the day as they went up against the University of the Philippines (UP) Fighting Maroons. Backed by their championship-winning players Harold Alarcon, Gerry Abdiano and AJ Madrigal, the Fighting Maroons bursted into a six-point lead, 6-0.
Despite being down early, the Blue and White responded swiftly through an Inand Fornillos two-pointer, a Geo Chiu and-one play and Chris Koon sinking two giveaways from the line. However, the Diliman boys were quick to respond as an Alarcon layup and Abadiano mid-range shot put them up back by two, 7-9 for UP. Despite Chiu converting on a putback shot, it was too little too late for the Blue Eagles as the Fighting Maroons held on to the ball until the buzzer sounded. The game ended 8-9 in favor of UP.
Chiu led the Ateneo squad with three points, 11 rebounds and two blocks. On the UP side, Alarcon posted numbers of four points and 10 rebounds. Abadiano also finished with four points.
The last game of pool play for the Blue Eagles saw them losing a tightly contested game versus the Adamson Soaring Falcons, 13-14. With both teams seeking to finish their UAAP Season 84 3×3 Basketball campaign on a high, the game was a back-and -forth affair all-throughout—with the Soaring Falcons edging out the Katipunan-based team. JC Fetalvero led Ateneo in scoring with six points. This was matched by Adamson’s John Calisay, who scored six markers of his own.
At the start of the day, the Blue Eagles had the same 2-2 record as the University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers and National University Bulldogs. However, after the two aforementioned teams won both of their games today, the Blue and White fell down the pecking order of Final Four contention. With the two losses on the final day of pool play, Ateneo finished sixth out of seven competitors in the Men’s tournament.
