MANILA – Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles kept its four-peat dreams alive with a 69-66 win over University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons in Game 2 of the UAAP Season 84 men’s basketball finals last night at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
Angelo Kouame stayed true to his Season Most Valuable Player award as he tallied with 14 points, 14 rebounds, and eight blocks as the Blue Eagles leveled the best-of-three finale at 1-1.
Christian Tyler Tio bounced back from a subpar Game 1 with 14 markers, as Dave Ildefonso also bounced back with 10 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two steals for Ateneo.
Down 61-60 halfway in the fourth quarter, Kouame tied the score for the Blue Eagles with a split free throw before surging his team ahead at 63-61 with a putback.
Bacolodnon Samjosef Belangel widened the lead for Ateneo at 65-61 with a fastbreak layup but UP trimmed it down to 63-65 on two freebies by Zavier Lucero.
The Blue Eagles increased it back to 67-63 on split free throws by Kouame and Ildefonso before Gian Mamuyac widened the lead to 69-63 with a fastbreak layup after an inbound turnover by UP’s James Spencer.
UP’s Ricci Rivero was able to answer with a layup on the other end which was followed by a Belangel miss from deep the next play with roughly 17 seconds left, 65-69.
Rivero, however, appeared to have lost track of the scoreline, a four-point deficit at the time, taking too much time before taking a shot with just two ticks left when he was fouled in the paint which cost UP the game.
“This series feels like La Salle series. It doesn’t feel like college basketball,” said Blue Eagles head coach Tab Baldwin, pertaining UAAP Season 80 finals encounter with De La Salle University that was also stretched to a do-or-die Game 3.
“It feels like there’s something else at stake and tonight, we responded and we did the job in key statistical categories. Everything else in the stat sheets looks good for us,” he added.
Rookie of the Year Carl Tamayo tallied double-doublen18 points and 12 rebounds, while Rivero chipped in 16 points, four steals, and four rebounds for the Fighting Maroons.
BOX SCORE:
ATENEO 69 — Kouame 14, Tio 14, Ildefonso 10, Mamuyac 7, Belangel 6, Koon 6, Verano 4, Lazaro 3, Andrade 3, Chiu 2, Daves 0.
UP 66 — Tamayo 18, Rivero 16, Cagulangan 8, Lucero 8, Diouf 8, Alarcon 5, Spencer 3, Fortea 0, Abadiano 0, Lina 0.
Quarterscores: 17-16, 37-28, 49-45, 69-66./PN
