by Waylon Galvez
Games Wednesday (Smart Araneta Coliseum)
2 p.m. – UST vs Adamson
4 p.m. – NU vs La Salle
ANTIPOLO CITY – Defending champion Ateneo rode on a big second quarter to whip Adamson, 62-48, yesterday in the 81st UAAP basketball tournament at the Ynares Sports Center here.
The Eagles used a 15-5 run to shatter an 11-all deadlock and build a 26-16 lead with 49 seconds left in the first half.
At the end of the first half, the Eagles matched the Falcons’ score in the second quarter alone to take a 26-17 lead at the break.
The Eagles went on to lead by as many as 20 points, 41-21 on Anton Asistio’s triple with 5:40 remaining in the third quarter.
The win, its 10th in 12 matches, kept Ateneo on track for the No. 1 spot and a twice-to-beat incentive entering the Final Four. It also avenged its 74-70 loss to Adamson in the first round.
“Coming into the game, we knew that we had a tough match-up. We wanted to make sure that we need our defense to hold up because Adamson is a well-oiled machine,” said Ateneo assistant coach Sandy Arespacochaga.
“Our emphasis was really to make sure to hold on defensively. We needed to make sure that (Jerrick) Ahanmisi and (Sean) Manganti won’t have their way – and even Papi Sarr.”
“Offensively, we were able to settle down a bit. We had a couple of forced plays in the first half that resulted to turnovers… we can’t do that against Adamson,” added Arespacochaga.
Despite the loss, Adamson, remains at second spot with an 8-3 card.
Meanwhile, Far Eastern University snapped a four-game skid by downing University of the East, 80-61, to tie UP for fourth and fifth spot at 6-6.
The scores:
FEU 80 – Tolentino 18, Tuffin 17, Eboña 12, Bienes 9, Escoto 6, Iñigo 6, Gonzales 3, Nunag 3, Parker 2, Stockton 2, Comboy 2, Ramirez 0, Cani 0, Jopia 0.
UE 61 – Pasaol 24, Manalang 6, Varilla 6, Cullar 6, Maloles 4, Bartolome 3, Antiporda 3, Gallardo 3, Sobrevega 3, Gagate 2, Conner 1, Beltran 0, Acuno 0.
Quarters: 21-13; 41-26; 63-49; 80-61.
ATENEO 62 – Go 12, Ravena 10, Asistio 9, Tio 6, Kouame 6, Verano 5, Nieto Ma. 5, Mamuyac 4, Nieto Mi. 3, Belangel 2, Wong 0, Mendoza 0, Navarro 0.
ADAMSON 48 – Lastimosa 13, Ahanmisi 10, Sarr 9, Manganti 6, Mojica 3, Camacho 2, Magbuhos V. 2, Zaldivar 2, Macion 1, Pingoy 0, Catapusan 0, Colonia 0, Bernardo 0, Maata 0, Magbuhos W. 0.
Quarters: 9-9; 26-17; 46-31; 62-48.
