By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
The Ateneo Blue Eagles stretched their winning streak to 32 games after asserting their mastery over the University of the East (UE), 94-72, during the ongoing UAAP Season 84 men’s seniors’ basketball tournament.
An Ateneo second-half explosion changed the atmosphere of the whole game and helped them pull away after a tightly-contested battle in the first two quarters.
UE’s efficient shooting and effective defense against Ange Kouame in the paint put Ateneo in a strange situation with the score deadlocked at 39-all.
The slugfest continued in the early minutes of the third quarter when UE managed to tie the game again at 48-all but Ateneo began to smell blood and turned things up with a momentum-changing 17-7 offensive run led by guard Gian Mamuyac.
Ateneo’s huge rally helped them establish their first double-digit lead of the game, 65-55, that kicked off a stellar fourth quarter run.
Dave Ildefonso, Tyler Tio, Kouame, and Mamuyac ran the show in the final canto and went unconscious from the field and had their biggest lead in the game at 90-64.
After a flat post-control in the first half, Ateneo did damage on the boards in the second half and just outworked UE in all facets of the game.
Ateneo’s freshman forward Josh Lazaro also played quality minutes in the absence of starter and veteran Raffy Verano.
“I think finally in the fourth quarter we did a better job defending their three-point shooting. I think in the end, the rebounding stats were pretty convincing. We got to the line a lot. We got the ball inside in the second half. Ange had a big game in the second half,” said Ateneo head coach Tab Baldwin.
