ONE more fight it is.
Ateneo showed no quit in the face of an impassioned Adamson side, 70-48, to take the last Final Four spot in the UAAP Season 86 men’s basketball tournament at the Mall of Asia Arena on Wednesday.
Jared Brown fought all heart with a 20-point performance on 8-of-14 shooting as the Blue Eagles utterly dominated the Falcons in the do-or-die match to reach their ninth straight Final Four appearance.
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After contesting three of the last four championships, Ateneo will take on its twice-to-beat Katipunan rival University of the Philippines one round earlier come Saturday’s semis opener, 2 p.m. at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.
"I guess, probably on the scoreboard, you know, maybe it didn't look like a tough game in the end. But it was very tough game, it always is with Adamson," said Ateneo head coach Tab Baldwin as the Blue Eagles posted the largest winning playoff margin in their first-ever playoff match.
"And I think that's reflected probably in the low score, you know that it's just hard to do things, the low shooting percentages, you know, first half, we kind of got some freedom in the first half, especially Jared shot the ball well and, you know, getting 40 points against an Adamson team in a half is really good effort," he added.
Ateneo had full control of the match from the opening tip before finally cutting off Adamson's wings in the second half, where the reigning champs led by as much as 25 points.
And in a special gesture of respect, Ateneo rookie Kyle Gamber gave Jerom Lastimosa — who had two minutes of action even with torn ACLs — the ball to fire his final UAAP shot from three-point range.
“‘Yun lang ang pinaka-hindi ko makakalimutang moment kasi ‘yun ‘yung pinaka-last shot ko sa UAAP,” said Lastimosa.
The shot went in.
The scores:
Ateneo (70) – Brown 20, Quitevis 11, Amos 10, Ballungay 7, Bongo 4, Obasa 4, Koon 3, Nieto 3, Credo 3, Espinosa 3, Lazaro 2, Chiu 0, Gamber 0, Tuano 0.
AdU (48) – Erolon 9, Hanapi 8, Calisay 5, Manzano 4, Yerro 4, Montebon 4, Sabandal 4, Magbuhos 3, Lastimosa 3, Barasi 2, Ramos 2, Colonia 0, Ojarikre 0, Cañete 0, Barcelona 0, Anabo 0.
Quarterscores: 24-15, 40-25, 56-39, 70-48
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