Ateneo’s Matt Nieto. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
Ateneo kept its immaculate slate in the UAAP Season 80 men’s basketball tournament after brushing off University of Santo Tomas, 94-84, Wednesday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Blue Eagles remained on top a 5-0 record while the Growling Tigers reeled to 0-5 in their worst start in more than a decade.
UST, which trailed by as much as 22 points, 69-47, tried to fight back in the fourth quarter with Marvin Lee hitting a transition three to cut the margin to one, 81-80, at the 6:25 mark.
Ateneo, however, responded with a 13-3 game-closing run that Matt Nieto capped off with a fadeaway jumper to give the Blue Eagles a 94-84 lead with 32.2 seconds left.
And as the Blue Eagles lit up in the final five minutes of the game, they also stopped UST from scoring a field goal in the same time stretch.
“We’re happy that we won the game, but at the same time we’re not happy with our performance,” said Ateneo assistant coach Sandy Arespacochaga. “I’m not taking anything away from UST, those guys played well.”
“I’m not happy we gave up 23 points in the first, 28 in the third, and we limited them to 13 points in the fourth and maybe that’s how we came out with the win.”
Matt Nieto led Ateneo with 22 points while Thirdy Ravena put up 12 points, 11 rebounds, and five assists.
Marvin Lee and Jordan Sta. Ana had 22 and 21 points, respectively.