EAGLES, MAROONS WIN
Ateneo hangs on in Final Four race; UP mauls UST
Defending champion Ateneo held off a last-minute rally from University of the East and prevailed, 80-74, in the second round of the UAAP Season 86 men’s basketball tournament on Wednesday, Nov. 15, at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
The Blue Eagles improved with a 7-6 record and secured at least a fourth-seed playoff, while also eliminating the Red Warriors from contention.
Rookie Jared Brown carried out a team-high 21 points and connected on 6 of 11 from the outside, while Kai Ballungay and Joseph Obasa tallied 15 and 13 markers, respectively.
Ateneo endured a fourth-quarter surge from the UE side to inch closer to the last semifinal seat.
Precious Momowei’s absence, who was slapped with a one-game suspension and disqualification from the Rookie of the Year award due to two unsportsmanlike fouls, proved to be tough for the Red Warriors.
Ateneo grabbed 42 rebounds while UE could only manage 30 for its part sans Momowei’s presence inside.
“I thought we looked a little bit disinterested today. There’s no excuse for that. Disappointing turning of the ball over as much as did and not being more dominant in the rebounding when they were missing Precious. We had a significant advantage,” said Ateneo head coach Tab Baldwin.
Rey Remogat paced the Red Warriors with an all-around effort of 22 points, five rebounds and seven assists, while Welli Lingolingo had 14 markers in the balanced attack.
Ethan Galang and Abdul Sawat, for their parts, added 12 points apiece on the losing end.
UE sank 4-9 in the standings, failing to end its Final Four drought anew.
In the equally important second game, University of the Philippines relied on its bench and blasted also-ran University of Santo Tomas, 86-61.
The Fighting Maroons hiked their tally to 11-2 in the standings to secure at least a playoff for the closely contested twice-to-beat berth.
Chicco Briones showed the way for UP off the bench with 14 points highlighted by a perfect 4-of-4 shooting from the inside and six of eight overall.