Ateneo built enough cushion to hold off a late fightback by University of Santo Tomas, 81-75, and tighten its grip of the fourth spot in the UAAP Season 79 juniors basketball tournament Tuesday at Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan.
The Blue Eaglets were well on their way to a blowout win after a three-point play by SJ Belangel made it, 77-52, with under five minutes left.
But the Tiger Cubs, led by Crispin Cansino and Miguel Ratuiste, made things interesting down the stretch that drew the ire of Blue Eaglets head coach Joe Silva.
“That’s what I told my players inside the dugout that we have to remain composed at all times,” said Ateneo head coach Joe Silva, who felt relieved but at the same time disappointed with his team’s performance in the endgame. “Our veterans are out of the game but it doesn’t mean that our bench players will give up the lead.”
“All I said was to protect the lead. We didn’t even need to score. A win is a win but the last part got a little ugly,” he added.
The game was already decided with Ateneo up by 25 midway through the final frame, prompting Silva to sit his starters.
But he had to insert them back in the game after Ratuiste cut the Eaglets’ advantage to single-digits, 79-70, with 53.8 seconds left.
UST outscored Ateneo, 29-15, in the fourth quarter and went on a 23-4 run inside the final five minutes.
Fortunately for Ateneo, it was a case of too little too late for UST, which slid to 2-7.
Dave Ildefonso, son of two-time PBA MVP Danny Ildefonso, led Ateneo with 17 points on top of eight rebounds while Belangel and Romulo Berjay added 15 points apiece and combined for 15 rebounds.
The Blue Eaglets, who were coming off a loss to National University last Saturday, rose to 5-4.
Silva said his team has a “big chance” of making it to the Final Four and the immediate goal for the Eaglets is to sweep their last five games to have a shot at a twice-to-beat advantage.
Cansino scored a game-high 19 points to go along with nine rebounds and five assists while Ratuiste had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds off the bench.