ATENEO once again went on its familiar third-quarter barrage to hammer La Salle, 75-68, and keep its unblemished record in the UAAP Season 84 men's basketball tournament at the Mall of Asia Arena.
With the majority of the 11,124 fans clad in pink serving as the backdrop, the Blue Eagles went on a ruthless 21-4 attack to turn a 36-all deadlock into a 57-40 lead at the 2:27 mark of the third frame.
The Green Archers refused to back down and tried to mount one rally after another in the final quarter, but the best they could do was get within seven after an Evan Nelle layup in the last 35.1 seconds.
By then, it was too late.
SJ Belangel delivered 15 points on 3-of-8 shooting from distance, to go with six rebounds and three assists as Ateneo remained at the head of the table at 8-0 (win-loss) with a 34th consecutive win - just another step closer to the Katipunan side's quest for a fourth successive UAAP championship.
Adjustments
"We really had to make adjustments, kinda needed to go back to the drawing board," said Ateneo coach Tab Baldwin.
"They pushed our offense to find opportunities. We played individually in the first half and fortunately without Ange [Kouame], we were able to defend pretty well, but we came into the locker room thinking La Salle had a better first half.
"We figured a few things out in the second half and our press helped us, got some easy points and got us the separation."
Gian Mamuyac chipped in 15 points, Dave Ildefonso got nine points, nine assists, seven boards, two steals, and one block, and BJ Andrade got nine off his 3-of-4 clip from rainbow country.
Kurt Lojera paced La Salle with 21 points, six rebounds, and two blocks, as Evan Nelle had 20 points on 3-of-9 shooting from deep, to go with four steals, two boards, and two dimes.
Justine Baltazar once again had a tough night at the office against the Blue Eagles as he shot 4-of-11 from the field for his 10-point, 10-rebound double-double.
The Green Archers fell to a 5-3 record but has now lost their seventh straight in the rivalry.
The scores:
ATENEO 75 - Belangel 15, Mamuyac 15, Ildefonso 9, Andrade 9, Kouame 7, Tio 6, Verano 4, Koon 4, Daves 4, Chiu 2, Lazaro 0, Mendoza 0.
LA SALLE 68 - Lojera 21, Nelle 20, Winston 10, Baltazar 10, M. Phillips 3, Nonoy 3, Manuel 1, B. Phillips 0, Cuajao 0, Nwankwo 0.
Quarters: 21-18, 35-32, 60-47, 75-68.
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