UAAP: Ateneo denies UP of a first round sweep with OT win

Ateneo’s Mason Amos during a game against UP in the UAAP Season 86 men’s basketball tournament.–UAAP PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — Mason Amos came to the rescue in overtime as Ateneo dealt University of the Philippines’ first defeat, 99-89, for its first win streak of the UAAP Season 86 men’s basketball tournament on Sunday at Mall of Asia Arena.

The Filipino-Aussie big man rose to the occasion before 12,122 fans, scoring seven of his 19 points in overtime to go with 10 rebounds and two assists.

“Mason made the big shots, and to win big games, you’ve got to do things that are sort of out of the system. The guys have to step up and make plays and today we made a couple more than they did and that’s the story of the game,” said Ateneo coach Tab Baldwin.

Tied at 85-all midway through OT, Amos caught fire with five straight points capped by a stepback triple before Joseph Obasa’s slam for a 92-85 lead with 1:27 remaining.

Amos was found open at the 39-second mark for a 94-87 cushion before Ian Espinosa, Jason Credo, and Kai Ballungay sealed the win at the free throw line to end the first round with a 4-3 record in the third seed.

Chris Koon also powered the Blue Eagles with 17 points and seven rebounds. Obasa posted 13 points, eight rebounds, and five blocks before fouling out in overtime, while Ballungay added 10 points and 10 rebounds.

“Obviously, we’re very delighted with the win, it was a real character game for us. UP is a great team and they played great. They did UP stuff the whole game, the guards. I’ve been saying the best UAAP set of guards I have seen in my entire time,” said Baldwin.

“It’s just tough, with CJ making plays, Harold and all these guys just making big plays when it mattered. But you know, we stuck to our guns and we got some stops when we needed to make stops, rebounds when we needed to get rebounds, and we did enough offensively sharing the ball and finding the right guys at the right time. The guys made big shots, too.”

Ateneo flirted with disaster after blowing a 78-68 lead in the fourth with Francis Lopez scoring five straight points to anchor a 12-2 run and tie the game at 80-all.

UP had a couple of chances to win it in regulation but JD Cagulangan’s layup was denied by Obasa while CJ Cansino missed a long three off a Cagulangan steal.

UP dropped to 6-1 but remained the top seed heading to the second round starting on Wednesday.

Cansino led the Fighting Maroons with 22 points, six rebounds, and two blocks. Malick Diouf had 13 points, 11 rebounds, and two blocks, while Gerry Abadiano had 12 points.

The Scores:

Ateneo (99) – Amos 19, Koon 17, Obasa 13, Ballungay 10, Brown 9, Credo 8, Espinosa 8, Nieto 7, Quitevis 3, Lazaro 3, Chiu 2, Gomez 0.

UP (89) – Cansino 22, Diouf 13, Abadiano 12, Belmonte 9, Torres 8, Torculas 6, Lopez 5, Cagulangan 5, Alarcon 5, Alter 3, Felicilda 1, Briones 0, Gonzales 0.

Quarterscores: 20-18, 44-43, 68-63, 80-80, 99-89