Mighty win brings Eagles to solo lead
No disrupting the Ateneo Blue Eagles from their flight to the summit. The high-flying Eagles soared to their third straight convincing victory and into the solo lead of the UAAP Season 80 men’s basketball tournament via a 94-82 drubbing of heavyweight Far Eastern U last night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. Picking up from where they left off in two blowout wins over the fancied Adamson Falcons and contender University of the Philippines Maroons, the Ateneans ran like a well-oiled machine and unloaded rapid-fire shooting in extending their streak in the young season. “It’s a bit of a high-scoring game; we shot well from the field, even from the three-point line, but we also gave up a lot of points to FEU, who shot the ball well, too. We’re happy to come off with a win especially on our third game in eight days,” said AdMU assistant coach Sandy Arespacochaga.
The Eagles connected on half of their 50 attempts overall, including 12 of 34 (35 percent) from rainbow territory.
Riding on Anton Asistio’s sniping from beyond the arc and 10 points in the first quarter, the Eagles seized a 34-22 spread to set the tone for the 12-point win.
Asistio finished with 16 to backstop Thirdy Ravena’s team-high 18-point, 11-rebound production. Matt Nieto (11) Vince Tolentino (10) and Isaac Go (nine) also did their share offensively, hitting some big baskets in the payoff period to keep FEU at bay.
Wendell Comboy, who had four treys, topscored with 12 for FEU, which suffered its second loss in three outings.
With Paul Desiderio rifling in a career-high 28 and spearheading a searing third-quarter assault, University of the Philippines clobbered University of the East, 84-71, to get back on track after a 21-point massacre at the hands of Ateneo.
“Going to the game, I was worried about the state of mind of the players after that bad loss to Ateneo. We told them we had to let go whatever’s bothering us and we’re happy we’re able to get through this game,” said UP mentor Bo Perasol, whose charges improved to 2-1.
Desiderio uncorked 16 markers in the penultimate period to fuel a 26-7 exchange that swayed the game to the side of the Maroons.