MANILA, Philippines—Cignal-Ateneo overpowered a scrappy Centro Escolar University side, 98-66, to claim the 2019 PBA D-League title Tuesday at Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City.
The Blue Eagles wasted no time in breaking the game wide open, racing to a 38-10 lead after the first 10 minutes and never letup.
“It’s good to win a championship. Our goals in the D-League were accomplished,” said Ateneo coach Tab Baldwin.
Angelo Kouame had 18 points and 16 rebounds while Will Navarro set the tone for the Eagles, scoring 13 of his 16 points in the opening quarter.
Ateneo showed no mercy in the second half where it stretched its lead to as high as 37 points.
Thirdy Ravena added 15 points and four steals for the back-to-back UAAP champions.
The Blue Eagles had it going on both ends but it was their suffocating defense that really did the trick.
Ateneo had CEU scrambling on offense more often than not and it resulted to 27 turnovers by the Scorpions that led to 36 turnover points.
Still, CEU had nothing to be ashamed of as it made the finals despite having just eight players anchored by Maodo Malick Diouf and Jerome Santos.
The Scorpions even managed to steal Game 2 from the Eagles to make the series a little more interesting.
Santos paced CEU with 20 points and while Diouf had 11 points, 12 rebounds and five assists.
Ateneo overwhelms CEU, 98-66, in Game 4 to win the #PBADLeague title. | @MarkGiongcoINQ pic.twitter.com/vG6Rxfu9cf
— INQUIRER Sports (@INQUIRERSports) June 25, 2019