Ateneo nips La Salle in OT

It was everything expected of a game between basketball’s two fiercest rivals. Tough shots, a lot of swag and a clutch ending.

Tab Baldwin, however, hopes it was played better.

Angelo Kouame delivered the crucial baskets and Ateneo held off La Salle in overtime, 81-75, Tuesday night in the Filoil Preseason Cup at Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan.

Kouame scored the last three field goals, including a strong inside bucket that sealed the game, 79-75, with 39.1 seconds left.

The Blue Eagles finished the elimination round with a 9-0 record in Group A while the Green Archers dropped to 7-2.

“I thought it was a fairly sloppy game,” said Baldwin, Ateneo’s coach. “Perhaps, when green goes against blue, it’s gonna be tough to find a well played game of basketball.”

“I don’t really have a lot to say about the game, I thought it wasn’t a great game of basketball. It might have been entertaining. I thought La Salle probably played with a bit more grit, a bit more toughness than we did,” he added.

Ateneo looked on its way to a victory after Thirdy Ravena made a step back triple with the shotclock winding down that put the Eagles on top, 70-66, with 23.5 seconds left.

But Aljun Melecio made a three and La Salle sandwiched a split by Isaac Go with a Jolo Go layup off an inbounds play with 0.3 ticks remaining to force overtime.

Earlier, San Beda crushed Mapua, 95-60, to seal a quarterfinal slot while Lyceum tripped UST, 93-88.