ATENEO hardly broke a sweat in demolishing Universitas Pelita Harapan of Indonesia by 86 points, 125-39, to open its campaign in the World University Basketball Series on Tuesday at Yoyogi National Stadium Second Gymnasium in Tokyo.
The Blue Eagles hardly missed injured naturalized player Ange Kouame and Dave Ildefonso as Kai Ballungay had a stellar debut for the Katipunan side to start their preseason preparations on a high note.
[See Ateneo gives Gamber a warm welcome]
A 28-6 start established control for Ateneo, which padded the lead to 43 points by halftime, 56-13, and to 78 points, 110-32, after an Inand Fornilos steal that led to a Chris Koon layup wih 3:51 left to play.
Ballungay poured 15 points, four rebounds, and three steals in his Blue Eagle debut as seven players in total scored in double figures.
Rookie Paul Garcia drained three treys for his team-high 17 points, Forthsky Padrigao collected 14 points, six assists, four boards, and four steals, and Chris Koon also made three triples for his 14 points and five rebounds.
Ateneo was just on-point all game long, shooting a sky-high 47-percent from deep after making 16 of their 34 three-pointers en route to a 60-percent field goal shooting on 28 assists.
The Blue Eagles also dominated the boards, 53 to 24.
Ateneo will look for its second win on Thursday against National Chengchi University of Chinese Taipei.
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