By MARK REY MONTEJO
Ateneo held its ground from start to finish and frustrated the Precious Momowei-less University of the East, 71-67, to end its three-game skid in the UAAP Season 87 men’s basketball tournament at UST Quadricentennial Pavilion in Manila Wednesday evening, Nov. 13.
Though already out of playoff contention, the Blue Eagles were still locked and loaded after dropping a 15-1 run in the first half to grab a 35-20 lead then remained steady from the foul line to overcome the Red Warriors’ late surge in the payoff period.
Aside from halting its losing streak, the Katipunan-based squad notched its fourth win against nine defeats while UE, which missed the services of Momowei due to a one-game suspension, suffered its seventh loss to tie with UST.
Ateneo also avenged itself after a 69-62 loss to UE in their first-round encounter last Oct. 2.
Andrew Bongo went splendid with 15 points while Shawn Tuano and Chris Koon backstopped him with 13 and 12. Also starring for the Eagles were Joshua Lazaro (11), and Jared Bahay (11), who drilled a booming triple down the stretch to give Ateneo a 67-65 advantage.
For UE, Rainer Maga topscored with 15 while John Abate had 11 which all went down the drain.
The result made the semifinal race tighter as the Warriors moved closer to the edge of being eliminated with the UST Growling Tigers (6-7) and the Adamson Soaring Falcons (5-7) lurking around.
UE must win its final game against UP on Nov. 20 for a crack at a semis spot.
The scores:
Ateneo (71) – Bongo 15, Tuano 13, Koon 12, Lazaro 11, Bahay 11, Espinosa 5, Quitevis 2, Porter 2, Ong 0, Gamber 0, Espina 0.
UE (67) – Maga 15, Abate 11, Fikes 9, Lingolingo 8, Galang 8, J. Cruz-Dumont 6, Wilson 4, Spandonis 3, H. Cruz-Dumont 2, Malaga 1, Mulingtapang 0.
Quarterscores: 21-16, 40-31, 55-51, 71-67.
