MANILA – Ateneo Blue Eagles relied on their experience in the endgame to pull off an 88-79 win over University of the Philippines Maroons in Game 1 of the UAAP Season 81 men’s basketball finals on Saturday at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
Matt Nieto and Thirdy Ravena steadied the ship for the Blue Eagles in the fourth quarter to move a game closer to their second straight title.
As the Maroons got close 75-72 midway in the last canto, Ravena, Nieto and Angelo Kouame took turns on the offensive end to build an 87-73 advantage after a Nieto triple.
The Maroons attempted to close in with 3 straight points from Bright Akhuetie but defensive stops by the Blue Eagles and two free throws from Raffy Verano reestablished the latter’s double-digit spread.
Nieto finished the match with career-high 27 points, including four triples, while Ravena flirted with a triple-double (21 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists) for the defending champions.
The Blue Eagles had a strong start, going up by as much as 12 points on hits from Ravena, but the Maroons responded in the second canto behind Jun Manzo and Diego Dario and got to within 38-39 at the half.
In the third period Ateneo made a run to move up by as much as 7 points but UP went aggressive when Akhuetie was injured and charged ahead, getting to as close as 72-75 in the fourth.
“We have to give credit to the Maroons. They were able to shoot a lot of 3s on us. Good thing our players stayed in our system,” said Blue Eagles assistant coach Sandy Arespacochaga.
Manzo top-scored with 19 points while brothers Juan and Javi Gomez de Liano chipped in 17 and 11 points, respectively, for the Maroons, which were hoping to stretch the match to a do-or-die Game 3 on Saturday with a win in Game 2 on Wednesday./PN
