SUMMARY
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MANILA, Philippines – The UAAP Season 84 second-round match between Ateneo and UE went the way almost everyone expected it to go as the Blue Eagles dominated the Red Warriors, 76-63, at the Mall of Asia Arena on Tuesday, April 19.
With their 35th straight win in the bag after a masterful 18-3 second-quarter barrage, Ateneo rose to 9-0 for the season, and earned a Final Four spot while putting the 0-9 UE side on the brink of missing another shot for playoff contention. The Eagles’ spot is now secured given that three of the latter four teams can now only max out at eight wins.
Streaky shooter BJ Andrade led the balanced effort with 19 points in as many minutes on 5-of-7 shooting from three, while top MVP candidate Ange Kouame finished with a big 14-point, 15-rebound double-double, with 11 of his boards coming in the first quarter alone.
Off a tight first quarter where the Red Warriors trailed, 17-20, the Eagles didn’t even wait for their trademark third-quarter pullaway, and quickly ran off in the second period with a 14-0 start capped by an Andrade triple for the 34-17 gap at the 5:47 mark.
UE needed more than eight minutes to even get its first field goal of the quarter as Clint Escamis sank a mid-range shot at the 1:44 mark before Ateneo entered the half up 18, 38-20.
In that nightmarish second-quarter collapse, UE shot 1-of-13 from the field, and had more turnovers (5) than points.
The Eagles then peaked in the second half with a 23-point separation, 51-28, at the 6:15 mark of the third from a Raffy Verano layup off a dime from Dave Ildefonso, who finished with just 5 points, but had 6 boards and a team-high 5 assists to make up for the lack of scoring.
However, the Red Warriors mounted a huge 16-3 response right after, capped by a Nico Paranada long two to cut their deficit to just 10, 44-54, in the quarter’s waning moments.
Unfortunately, the second-quarter damage was way too great for UE’s fightback to even matter in the long run as Ateneo hung on for the win.
“Kind of a game of two halves, wasn’t it?” said Ateneo head coach Tab Baldwin after the game. “Second quarter we were really good defensively. But UE with coach Jamike (Jarin), they try to make the game a little bit confusing with changing defense.”
“I don’t think we handled that particularly well but we did enough to get the win. I’m not really happy with the efficiency of our offense in the second half.”
Paranada led the second-half spurt with 18 points on 8-of-13 shooting, while Escamis stuffed the stat sheet anew with a 13-marker, 6-board, 6-assist line.
Ateneo goes for its 36th straight victory on Thursday, April 21, against the reeling UST Growling Tigers at 10 am, while UE fights to stay alive in the hunt against the La Salle Green Archers at the 7 pm nightcap.
The Scores
Ateneo 76 – Andrade 19, Kouame 15, Belangel 13, Verano 6, Ildefonso 5, Lazaro 4, Chiu 4, Koon 3, Mamuyac 3, Tio 3, Padrigao 2, Mendoza 0, Daves 0, Gomez 0.
UE 63 – N. Paranada 18, Escamis 13, Pagsanjan 11, K. Paranada 7, Lorenzana 5, J. Cruz 3, Beltran 2, Tulabut 2, Sawat 2, Villanueva 0, Guevarra 0, Abatayo 0, P. Cruz 0, Antiporda 0.
Quarters: 20-17, 38-20, 56-44, 76-63.
– Rappler.com
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