By CARLO ANOLIN
Gian Mamuyac hit a dagger triple with 1:21 left in the payoff period and helped lift Ateneo past National University, 74-64, to stay unbeaten in the UAAP Season 82 Tuesday night at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
His basket – his second in 10 tries for the game – and along with those of Ange Kouame, SJ Belangel, and Dave Ildefonso down the stretch enabled the defending champion to keep their winning streak to five this season and 31st overall since 2018.
Kouame imposed his will inside and flirted with a triple-double of 12 points, 10 rebounds, and eight blocks, while Ildefonson with 14 points on an efficient 5-of-9 shooting to go with three assists.
Belangel contributed 11 points and seven rebounds for Ateneo.
“NU’s a good basketball team coming into this game,” said Ateneo coach Tab Baldwin. “I think we expected that but I’m not sure we respected that enough. There is still a lot of work for us to do. I’m delighted that we got the win because NU made us fight every inch for that win.”
Reyland Torres spearheaded NU with 14 points, John Lloyd Clemente added 12 points and six rebounds, and Felicilda chipped in with 10 points, six assists, and three rebounds.
Earlier, La Salle rebounded from a crushing defeat to bitter rival Ateneo with a 75-66 drubbing of University of Santo Tomas.
The Archers dictated the tempo of the game before the Tigers, behind the efforts of Joshua Fontanilla and Nic Cabanero, attempted to make the game more interesting.
And they almost did, cutting an early 19-point deficit down to nine, 71-62, on a Christian Manaytay reverse layup with less than three minutes to go in the fourth.
But it was too late for the Espana-based squad as Justine Baltazar and Kurt Lojera joined forces and put the finishing touches.
La Salle improved to a 4-1 record while UST absorbed its third defeat in four games.
“I think it’s very important for us, this win,” said De La Salle coach Derrick Pumaren. “It’s because after coming up with a loss against Ateneo, the thing that I told the boys [is that] the important thing is how we bounce back. We gotta bounce back hard. We gotta take care of business today.”
Baltazar posted 20 points on an efficient 8-of-12 shooting to go with seven rebounds, and five assists and Lojera scored 15 points to lead the Green Archers.
Rookie Emmanuel Galman showed off with 13 points built on three triples while Michael Phillips flirted with a double-double performance after chalking up eight points and 13 rebounds.
The scores:
First Game
DLSU 75 – Baltazar 20, Lojera 15, Galman 13, Phillips M. 8, Nelle 4, Austria 4, Phillips B. 4, Nonoy 3, Winston 2, Nwankwo 2.
UST 66 – Cabañero 20, Fontanilla 20, Santos 9, Manaytay 9, Concepcion 4, Ando 2, Pangilinan 2, Garing 0, Manalang 0, Mantua 0, Herrera 0, Yongco 0, Gomez de Liaño 0.
Quarters: 23-16, 42-27, 61-44, 75-66.
Second Game
ATENEO 74 — Ildefonso 14, Kouame 12, Belangel 11, Tio 8, Mendoza 7, Verano 6, Mamuyac 6, Chiu 5, Koon 4, Andrade 1, Lazaro 0, Padrigao 0.
NU 64 — Torres 14, Clemente 12, Felicilda 10, Malonzo 6, Ildefonso 5, Yu 5, Manansala 4, Figueroa 2, Joson 2, Enriquez 2, Galinato 2, Minerva 0, Tibayan 0, Gaye 0, Mahinay 0.
Quarters: 20-14, 41-33, 58-50, 74-64.
