NOT much was known about Ateneo heading into UAAP Season 88 - but on Sunday inside the Mall of Asia Arena, they put it all on full display against archrival La Salle.
Speeding to an 11-2 start, the Blue Eagles overwhelmed the Green Archers through three quarters of their marquee matchup en route to a wire-to-wire 81-74 win that kept their record pure and pristine after four games.
Dom Escobar went full throttle right from tip-off, scoring seven points in the first quarter and almost matching their fierce foes who only mustered 11 in the same timeframe. His teammates were right with him come the second period, as their lead ballooned to 36-19 at halftime.
Ateneo kept its foot on the pedal in the second half, with Kymani Ladi posterizing Mike Phillips to punctuate a 12-2 run for a 48-21 advantage in their favor at the six-minute mark of the third frame.
La Salle kept coming and went berserk with 19 unanswered points to begin in the fourth quarter before cutting the deficit to five, 72-77, with 22 ticks to go.
By then, though, time was not on its side, as the Blue Eagles' 33-point advantage proved to be much too much.
"We've got several guys who've never played in this rivalry before. I'm not gonna take away what they did in the first three quarters. It was extraordinary," said head coach Tab Baldwin as blunt assessment post-game.
Escobar and Ladi both wound up with 15 points and nine rebounds, while Shawn Tuano fired 15 markers of his own, all but six coming in the last four minutes.
Welcome to the Ateneo as darkhorse era
The two, alongside Jaden Lazo, are turning out to be the Blue Eagles' hidden yet lethal weapons, as they came out of nowhere - in pundits' eyes, at least - to stand alone atop the leaderboard in the earlygoing of the season.
The blue-and-white didn't make that many preseason appearances, with Baldwin keeping his cards close to his chest.
Four games into the tournament, where defending champion University of the Philippines and runner-up La Salle were seen in the preseason as teams-to-beat, Ateneo has emerged as pacesetter, with its one-and-done studs showing the way.
"If we can learn from these lapses we had in the fourth quarter, a lot of people are gonna have heightened belief in this team," said Baldwin.
On the other hand, the Green Archers were forced back to the drawing board now at 2-2, with the 1-2 backcourt punch of Jacob Cortez and Kean Baclaan taking too long to get going and ultimately merging for 23 points in 8-of-29 shooting and seven turnovers even as Phillips still posted a 17-marker, 20-rebound double-double.
The Scores:
ATENEO 81 – Ladi 15, Escobar 15, Tuano 15, Lazaro 9, Espinosa 8, Espina 7, Bongo 4, Bahay 3, Adili 2, Lazo 2, Fjellvang 1.
LA SALLE 74 – Phillips 17, Baclaan 13, Cortez 10, Gollena 7, Amos 6, Pablo 5, Dungo 5, Daep 4, Abadam 3, Gomez 2, Marasigan 2, Quines 0.
Quarters: 14-11, 36-19, 68-38, 81-74
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