Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
ANTIPOLO—Ateneo strengthened its hold of the top spot after shutting down Adamson University, 62-48, in the UAAP Season 81 men’s basketball tournament Sunday at Ynares Center here.
The league-leading Blue Eagles chalked up their fifth straight win and bumped their record to 10-2 while the second-seeded Soaring Falcons dropped to 8-3.
After an uneventful first quarter that saw both teams score just nine points apiece, the Blue Eagles raced to a blistering 32-12 run to take a 41-21 lead after Anton Asistio’s three midway through the third quarter.
Ateneo assistant coach Sandy Arespacochaga admitted that the Blue Eagles played poorly in the first quarter that saw them struggle in their set pieces and it was in the second quarter that they were able to slow things down.
“Offensively we settled down a bit, we had a couple of forced plays in the first quarter and we actually had six I think [eight to be correct],” said Arespacochaga. “We had a couple of plays in the second, we settled down and we ran our offense well.”
“Against this team if you don’t execute you’re not going to score so our emphasis on offense was to execute.”
Adamson was able to trim the deficit to as little as 12 points, 56-44, after Jerrick Ahanmisi’s three-pointer with 4:11 left but the Blue Eagles were able to hold its ground in the defensive end allowing just one field goal after conversion.
Isaac Go was Ateneo’s high-point man with 12 points while grabbing seven rebounds with Thirdy Ravena missing out on a double-double with 10 points and nine boards.
Jerom Lastimosa finished with 13 points for the Soaring Falcons while Jerrick Ahanmisi had 10 points.