UAAP Season 80: Ateneo asserts might over UP

Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

Ateneo turned the “Battle of Katipunan” into a cakewalk and crushed University of the Philippines, 92-71, in the UAAP Season 80 seniors’ basketball tournament Wednesday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The Blue Eagles soared to a 2-0 win-loss record while the Fighting Maroons slipped to 1-1.

UP didn’t put up much of a challenge against the Blue Eagles, who never trailed in the game and asserted their might on every statistical category.

Ateneo outmuscled UP in the paint and outrebounded the Fighting Maroons 51-38—18 of which came from the offensive glass wherein the Blue Eagles scored 31 second-chance points.

The Blue Eagles also limited the Fighting Maroons to just 12 second-half field goals as UP finished the game on 25-of-67 shooting.

“One of the things that coach Tab [Baldwin] said at half time was we needed to play better defense and that we needed to take care of the ball more,” said assistant coach Sandy Arespacochaga.

“They shot 44 percent from the field in the first half and we brought that down to 37 percent so that was a big improvement.”

Thirdy Ravena led Ateneo with 16 points and six rebounds while the debuting Tyler Tio put up 14 points on 6-of-6 shooting,

Juan Gomez de Liaño had 16 points, seven rebounds, and two steals to lead the Fighting Maroons.