IT was Ateneo who will have a chance to live to fight another day.
Basically fighting for their survival, the Blue Eagles made the shots that mattered and took down Adamson, 72-61, Sunday at SM Mall of Asia Arena to keep themselves in the running in the UAAP Season 88 men's basketball Final Four.
The Katipunan side picked the right time to connect from distance, using a 21-7 assault to end the first half to grab a 42-27 halftime lead.
Ateneo's lead further swelled to 26 points, but the Soaring Falcons, very much on brand, kept on clawing back and pulled to within 13 points, 72-59, after Matty Erolon's trey with 2:24 to go.
However, Adamson just could not find that source of offense late, as the Blue Eagles used that big buffer to escape with the W.
At 6-7, Ateneo has its fate within its hands heading into its rivalry game against La Salle on Wednesday.
Ateneo repeats over Adamson
Dom Escobar paced the balanced Blue Eagles with 14 points, five rebounds, and two assists, Kymani Ladi drilled 13 points and five boards, and Waki Espina led the blue-and-white artillery with his three three-pointers to end up with 13 points, three assists, and three steals.
The blue-and-white shot 8-of-22 as a collective from rainbow country, but more importantly, its defense muffled the Soaring Falcons' gunslingers to 6-of-32 shooting for a measly 18.8-percent clip.
"You know I hate big leads unless it's at the buzzer. Teams tend to, at this level, change their personality when they get big leads and it's something that's really hard for the players and coaches to switch back to that mentality of being the aggressor," said coach Tab Baldwin of his side losing grip of that 65-39 third quarter lead.
"Adamson is just a hard team to put away, so I give credit to them for that."
This puts an end to Adamson's up-and-down campaign, as it closes this season with a 6-8 card.
Erolon top-scored for the Soaring Falcons with 24 points and had four of the six makes for the San Marcelino side from distance, while also grabbing five rebounds and two assists.
Ray Allen Torres added 16 points and two boards, as Cedrick Manzano ended his collegiate career with seven points, 11 rebounds, and five assists in the defeat.
The Scores:
ATENEO 72 – Escobar 14, Ladi 13, Espina 13, Tuano 11, Adili 8, Lazaro 4, Espinosa 3, Bongo 3, Lazo 3, Bahay 0, Fjellvang 0, Gamber 0.
ADAMSON 61 – Erolon 24, Torres 16, Manzano 7, Montebon 4, Fransman 4, Ojarikre 2, Perez 2, A. Ronzone 2, Anabo 0, Medina 0, Cañete 0, Barcelona 0, Tumaneng 0, C. Ronzone 0, Demisana 0, Jaymalin 0.
Quarters: 15-12, 42-27, 65-39, 72-61.
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