THE ATENEO Men’s Basketball Team kept their postseason aspirations alive after dismantling and eliminating the Adamson University (AdU) Soaring Falcons, 72-61. The win-or-go-home game occurred earlier today, November 23, at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in the City of Pasay.
Leading the Blue Eagles in their winning effort was Waki Espina with 13 points, three assists, and three steals, off a 5-for-8 shooting clip. One-and-dones Dom Escobar and Kymani Ladi also chipped in much-needed 14 and 13 markers, respectively, for the Blue and White.
After this result, the Blue Eagles improved to a 6-7 win-loss record, setting themselves up for a pivotal final contest with archrival De La Salle University (DLSU) Green Archers.
With the stakes as high as can be, both teams entered the do-or-die contest with brimming determination. Responding from a quick 5-1 Adamson burst, Ateneo displayed their hustle as Escobar nabbed a second chance layup and Espina downed a coast-to-coast lay off a steal, 5-5. The two squads then continued their back-and-forth affair, finding themselves in a 9-9 deadlock after a Ray Allen Torres jumper.
Ateneo then separated themselves from their adversaries at the end of the quarter, blitzing to a 7-3 run via Divine Adili free throws and another Escobar conversion, 15-12. With the frame reaching its final seconds, Escobar would deny a Torres attempt to maintain his team’s three-point lead, 15-12.
Despite their strong end to the first quarter, Ateneo struggled to contain Matty Erolon as the Adamson guard knocked down two straight buckets, 15-17. Recovering as quickly as they did in the previous canto, the Blue Eagles blazed to an 11-3 run courtesy of the combined contributions of Escobar, Andrew Bongo, and Josh Lazaro, 26-20.
Refusing to take their foot off the gas pedal, Shawn Tuano and Ian Espinosa sank a putback layup and long-range shot, respectively, 28-22. The Blue Eagles then continued to pile on to their advantage with Espinosa and Espina draining consecutive threes, 34-22. Further hyping up the Ateneo faithful to end the half, Jaden Lazo stepped into the game and knocked down a contested three of his own, 42-27.
Carrying over the same momentum into the second half, the Blue Eagles continued to turn up the heat with Ladi waxing hot, scoring the next seven points for Ateneo after Adili’s bucket opened up the third, 51-33. Contributing to their sustained production, the Blue Eagles also forced the Soaring Falcons into early foul trouble.
The Blue and White’s outside shooting also ramped up, with Tuano knocking down a triple by the halfway mark of the period, 54-35. The barrage then continued with Espina chipping in a trey of his own to hand Ateneo a 20-point advantage at 57-37.
Shortly after, Tuano and Escobar powered an 8-2 run for the Blue Eagles, 65-39, handing Ateneo their biggest lead of the game at 26. Eager to mitigate the damage before the end of the third, Adamson strung together five-straight points to cap off the quarter, 65-44, with the Blue and White still up by 21.
Despite Ladi hitting a turnaround jumper over Kobe Demisana and Adili rejecting Torres on the other end, 67-44, the Soaring Falcons burst back to life right after. The Blue Eagles were stunned by a 12-2 outburst by Adamson, with Torres leading the charge, 69-56.
Though Ateneo remained scoreless for the majority of the final frame, the hole was deemed too big for the Soaring Falcons to crawl back from. Putting the icing on top, Espina hit a dagger three to silence the Adamson faithful, 72-56, as the Blue Eagles averted any chance of a late-game collapse. With only a minute left in the game, Ateneo held onto their advantage and lived to fight another day, copping their sixth win of the season, 72-61.
Following the game, Head Coach Tab Baldwin immediately looked ahead to his team’s final assignment, a must-win do-or-die matchup against rivals La Salle.
“I would imagine that it would be a tough, closely-fought, competitive game, but you have to take learnings out of every game. […] Now, we go into this last game and there’s only one thing that matters, and that’s the result,” said Baldwin. The long-time Ateneo Coach also emphasized the confidence he has in his team’s chances as the postseason nears.
The Blue Eagles will return to action in their final elimination round game against the DLSU Green Archers on Wednesday, November 26, at 4:30 PM in the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.
Should Ateneo take the victory against DLSU, a playoff for fourth will be initiated, but a loss would dash the Blue Eagles’ Final Four hopes in Season 88.
Box scores:
Ateneo (72): Escobar – 14, Espina – 13, Ladi – 13, Tuano – 11, Adili – 8, Lazaro – 4, Espinosa – 3, Bongo – 3, Lazo – 3, Bahay – 0, Fjellvang – 0, Gamber – 0
AdU (61): Erolon – 24, Torres – 16, Manzano – 7, Montebon – 4, Fransman – 4, Perez – 2, Ojarikre – 2, A. Ronzone – 2, Anabo – 0, Medina – 0, Cañete – 0, Barcelona – 0, Tumaneng – 0, C. Ronzone – 0, Demisana – 0, Jaymalin – 0
Quarter scores:
Ateneo-AdU: 15-12, 42-27, 59-44, 72-61
Current Standings (W-L):
- NU Bulldogs (11-2)*
- UP Fighting Maroons (10-4)*
- UST Growling Tigers (7-5)
- DLSU Green Archers (7-6)
- FEU Tamaraws (6-7)
- ATENEO Blue Eagles (6-7)
- AdU Soaring Falcons (6-8) – e
- UE Red Warriors (0-14) – e
* – clinched Final Four berth
e – eliminated from Final Four contention
