MANILA – Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles survived a tough challenge from National University Bulldogs before escaping with a 74-64 win in the UAAP Season 84 men’s basketball on Tuesday night at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
The defending champions Blue Eagles found themselves clinging to a 67-64 lead with over two minutes left following a three-pointer by Negrense Reyland Torres for the Bulldogs.
But Dave Ildefonso scored on a layup on the other, followed by back-to-back conversions from Gian Mamuyac and Raffy Verano. The Blue Eagles widened the lead to 74-64.
“NU’s a good basketball team coming into this game,” said Ateneo coach Tab Baldwin. “I think we expected that but I’m not sure we respected that enough. There is still a lot of work for us to do.”
Ildefonso top-scored with 14 points and three assists, while Angelo Kouame flirted with a triple double of 12 points, 10 rebounds, and eight blocks for Ateneo.
Negrense Samjosef Belangel got 11 points and seven rebounds as the Blue Eagles cruised to 5-0 victory, two games away from sweeping the first round of eliminations.
Torres led the Bulldogs with 14 points while John Lloyd Clemente had 12 points on 14 shots, including a woeful 1-of-7 from deep. They slipped to 2-3.
Meanwhile, Far Eastern University Tamaraws (2-3) leaned on the exploits of Xyrus Torres as they arrested their three-game skid by pounding University of the East Red Warriors (0-5), 88-74.
Torres alone outscored the whole Red Warriors in the first quarter with three triples to lead the Tamaraws to an early 20-6 cushion and never looked back.
Torres finished with career-high 26 points, including eight triples, while Emman Ojuola registered a monster double-double of 18 points and 19 rebounds for the Tamaraws.
BOX SCORE:
ATENEO 74 — Ildefonso 14, Kouame 12, Belangel 11, Tio 8, Mendoza 7, Verano 6, Mamuyac 6, Chiu 5, Koon 4, Andrade 1, Lazaro 0, Padrigao 0.
NU 64 — Torres 14, Clemente 12, Felicilda 10, Malonzo 6, Ildefonso 5, Yu 5, Manansala 4, Figueroa 2, Joson 2, Enriquez 2, Galinato 2, Minerva 0, Tibayan 0, Gaye 0, Mahinay 0.
Quarterscores: 20-14, 41-33, 58-50, 74-64./PN
