MANILA – Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles exacted their revenge on archrival De La Salle University Green Archers with a 68-54 victory in the UAAP Season 85 men’s basketball on Saturday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Angelo Kouame bounced back from a nearly scoreless game against the National University Bulldogs with a dominant 11 points, 14 rebounds, five blocks, and three steals for the Blue Eagles.
Dave Ildefonso led the way with 12 points, seven rebounds, and three steals, while Rence Padrigao, Chris Koon and rookie Bryson Ballungay had 11 points each as the Blue Eagles improved to 6-3 win-loss slate.
From a 29-all score at the half, the Blue Eagles were scintillating to start the third quarter behind conversions from Kouame, Ildefonso, Ballungay and Padrigao to build a 56-39 advantage.
The Green Archers put up a fight in the fourth quarter as they cut the deficit to 49-61 but a free throw by Ballungay and back-to-back outside conversions by Koon sealed the win for the Blue Eagles.
Evan Nelle was the lone double digit scorer for the Green Archers with 15 points to go with seven rebounds, and five assists. They suffered their fourth straight defeat to drop to 3-6.
Defending champions University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons, meanwhile, withstood the University of the East Red Warriors’ late rally to win, 83-69, and clinch a Final Four seat with its 9-1 slate. The Red Warriors dropped to 4-6.
Leading by as much as 32-14 of a Cyril Gonzales three at the 1:22 mark of the first quarter, the Fighting Maroons saw their lead trimmed down to just 64-71 via a conversion by Isagani Stevens with 4:02 remaining in the contest.
However, the Fighting Maroons responded with a 10-0 scoring blast behind Zavier Lucero, Maodo Malick Diouf, and Gonzales as the lead reached 81-64 with over a minute left.
Diouf finished with a career-high 23 points to go with 15 rebounds, Lucero followed with 17 points, while Terrence Fortea and Bacolodnon Harold Alarcon had 10 points each for the Fighting Maroons.
BOX SCORE:
ATENEO 68 — Ildefonso 12, Kouame 11, Ballungay 11, Koon 11, Padrigao 11, Andrade 8, Gomez 2, Chiu 2, Lazaro 0.
DLSU 54 — Nelle 15, Nwankwo 7, Quiambao 6, Nonoy 6, Austria 5, Estacio 5, Manuel 4, M. Phillips 3, Abadam 2, Macalalag 1.
Quarterscores: 10-16, 29-29, 56-39, 68-54./PN
