ATENEO pulled off probably the biggest heist of UAAP Season 87.
Playing in enemy territory with a spirited crowd boosting the home team, the Blue Eagles came away with a 67-64 stunner over undermanned University of Santo Tomas on Saturday at UST Quadricentennial Pavilion.
Clinging to a two-point lead in the endgame, Sean Quitevis stole the ball from Nic Cabanero in the inbounds play and easily scored the game-sealing layup with 11.7 seconds left that left the Final Four-dreaming Tigers dazed.
READ: No Mo Tounkara for UST as it defends home court vs Ateneo
But it was just a performance to remember from the Katipunan visitors, taking advantage of Mo Tounkara’ suspension and set the tone for the game with a blazing 17-4 start en route to back-to-back wins.
Balanced Blue Eagles
Andrew Bongo was one of the many heroes for Ateneo, leading his side with 14 points on 3-of-6 shooting from deep, to go with seven rebounds and two steals, as Ian Espinosa got 11 points, including the split from the line with 5.5 seconds left that stretched the lead to three, alongside six boards and two assists.
UST had one last shot, but Chris Koon stripped the ball off the hands of Christian Manaytay to secure the rare road win. The Fil-Am winger finished with 10 points, four rebounds, and three assists to help the Blue Eagles improve to 3-6.
Shawn Tuano had 10, while Nigerian center Victor Balogun also recorded his best offensive game to date with nine points, as he and Kristian Porter combined for 16 boards against the depleted Tigers frontline.
“I don’t know when the last time in the UAAP where you played a road game and it was a mystery to us why that happened. And what it required from us is to gut it out, and I think it’s one of the gutsiest win we had in the past years,” said coach Tab Baldwin, praising his team’s grit and focused on his side’s 17 offensive rebounds.
It wasn’t the homecoming the black-and-gold envisioned, stumbling to its third straight defeat to slip to a 4-6 record.
Cabanero captained UST with 18 points, but shot 5-of-16 from the field, alongside six boards, while Manaytay scored nine of his 11 points in the fourth quarter.
Gelo Crisostomo tried to make up for Tounkara’s absence by grabbing 16 rebounds, but the Espana side shot themselves on the foot after committing 18 turnovers.
The Scores:
ATENEO 67 – Bongo 14, Espinosa 11, Koon 10, Tuano 10, Balogun 9, Bahay 8, Porter 3, Quitevis 2, Lazaro 0, Espina 0, Edu 0.
UST 64 – Cabanero 18, Manaytay 11, Padrigao 8, Estacio 8, Paranada 6, Laure 6, Crisostomo 5, Robinson 2, Llemit 0, Acido 0, Danting 0, Mahmood 0.
Quarters: 17-8, 33-25, 48-41, 67-64.
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