Rallying Ateneo shocks UST home crowd in gutsy road escape

MANILA, Philippines – Making use of a super rare occasion, the Ateneo Blue Eagles ruled the UST Quadricentennial Pavilion after shocking the Growling Tigers on their home floor, 67-64, on Saturday, October 19.

Leading by as many as 13 to open the contest, Ateneo stifled any chance of a momentum swing, capped off by two key defensive stops at the tail end of the contest.

Up by just two, 64-62, Ateneo team captain Sean Quitevis picked off an inbound pass by opposing guard Forthsky Padrigao, leading to a breakaway layup, his only basket, to make it a 66-62 spread with 11.7 seconds to go.

The Tigers then responded with a layup courtesy of Kyle Paranada with 7.3 to play.

Ateneo left the window open after Ian Espinosa split from the line at the 5.5 second mark, and never let UST get a shot off, with the team achieving its second straight win to start the second round of the UAAP Season 87 men’s basketball tournament.

“I don’t know when the last time in the UAAP, you had to play a road game. And, of course, I’m used to that throughout my career,” Baldwin said after the game.

“Most of the leagues I coached in were home and away, but never here. And it was a mystery to us you know why that happened, but it did and what it required of us was to really gut it out and I think this was the one of the gutsiest wins we’ve had you know in in a few years,” he added.

Andrew Bongo led the now 3-6 Blue Eagles with 14 points, while Espinosa chipped in 11 points.

With the win, the Eagles rose from a last-place rut into a current placing of sixth, tying the FEU Tamaraws and overtaking the NU Bulldogs (2-7).

On the other side, Nic Cabañero put up an 18-point, 11-rebound effort, as the Tigers tried in vain to compensate for the loss of Malian center Mo Tounkara, who was serving a one-game suspension for an ejection against La Salle last Wednesday, October 16.

“What I said to our team was to focus on what we can control and not what we can’t control,” said Espinosa.

“We just stick to Coach Tab’s game plan. And even if the UST runs, we know that their crowd is good.”

The Scores

Ateneo 67 – Bongo 14, Espinosa 11, Koon 10, Tuano 10, Balogun 0, Bahay 8, Porter 3, Quitevis 2, Lazaro 0, Espina 0, Edu 0.

UST 64 – Cabanero 18, Manaytay 11, Padrigao 8, Estacio 8, Paranada 6, Laure 6, Crisostomo 5, Robinson 2, Llemit 0, Acido 0, Danting 0, Mahmood 0.

Quarters: 17-8, 33-25, 48-41, 67-64.

– Rappler.com