MANILA – Cignal-Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles clawed its way back from a double-digit deficit to score an 88-66 victory over St. Clare College Virtual Reality Saints in the 2019 PBA D-League at JCSGO Gym in Cubao.
Ivorian import Angelo Kouame led the way with double-double 24 points and 29 rebounds to go along with five blocks for the Blue Eagles, which moved up to solo second place in Aspirants Group with 5-1 win-loss slate.
Isaac Go punctured 11 points built on three outside conversions. Ferdinand “Thirdy” Ravena III added 10 points, five rebounds, and two steals, and Adrian Wong had 10 for the Blue Eagles.
Trailing 28-44 at the half, Kouame spearheaded the Blue Eagles fight back in the third quarter as he scored 11 in the telling 31-7 blast to grab a 59-53 edge with 2:02 left in the period.
It was all the UAAP men’s basketball champions needed as they went on and stuck it to the Saints in the fourth frame to cruise to the 22-point conquest with contributions from Go and Ravena.
“(Our halftime talk was) direct to the point, that we weren’t doing what we said we’ll do before the game,” said Blue Eagles head coach Tab Baldwin. “We didn’t really make any adjustments and we just went back to basics.”
Darwin Lunor collected 12 points and 16 rebounds, while Paul Santos had 12 markers for the Saints, which suffered its first defeat in five games to fall to 4-1./PN
