MANILA – Negrense Raffy Celis made his presence felt on a limited opportunity as Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles prevails over University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers, 67-59, in the UAAP Season 86 men’s basketball on Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Bacolod City-native forward tallied seven points, 11 rebounds, three assists, and one steal in 16 minutes of action as the Blue Eagles snapped its three-game losing skid to improve to a 5-6 win-loss slate.
Kai Ballungay spearheaded the offense for the Blue Eagles with a double-double of 15 points and 14 rebounds, while Chris Koon and Jared Brown chipped in 12 and 10 markers, respectively.
The Blue Eagles relied on their free throw shooting in the first quarter, where they converted 10, as they pulled to a 22-12, which later grew to as high as 34-16 courtesy of Brown.
The Growling Tigers, however, showed some life in the third quarter as they cut the deficit to as low as 43-47, but the Blue Eagles responded with baskets from Ballungay and Koon for a 66-56 lead.
UST made its last push in the fourth period as they chopped the deficit to seven points via a three-pointer from Kylle Magdangal, but a free throw from Celis sealed the win for Ateneo.
Blue Eagles head coach Tab Baldwin said he was pleased with the defense shown by his players against the Growling Tigers as they kept their Final Four hopes alive.
“We’re happy to end that losing streak, that’s for sure,” Baldwin said in a post-game interview. “I was really pleased with our defense. We did a good job on them.”
“Offensively, we did enough to win the game,” he added. “I think anybody that takes a chance on us shooting 20-percrnt from the three and giving us as many good looks as we got (vs. UST) might regret that.”
Nicael Cabañero finished with 16 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists, while Miguel Pangilinan contributed 13 markers as the Growling Tigers dropped to a 1-10 card./PN
BOX SCORE:
ATENEO 67 — Ballungay 15, Koon 12, Brown 10, Amos 8, Celis 8, Obasa 7, Nieto 3, Quitevis 2, Chiu 2, Credo 0, Lazaro 0, Espinosa 0, Gomez 0.
UST 59 — Cabañero 16, Pangilinan 13, Duremdes 9, Manalang 6, Magdangal 5, Laure 4, Llemit 3, Manaytay 2, Calum 1, Crisostomo 0, Moore 0, Gesalem 0, Lazarte 0.
Quarterscores: 22-12, 43-29, 50-43, 67-59.
