THE heart of a champion could not be denied.
Reigning champ Ateneo had the last word in an instant classic over rival La Salle, 77-72, in the UAAP Season 86 men's basketball tournament at the Mall of Asia Arena on Wednesday.
Ateneo vs La Salle UAAP Season 86 men's basketball recap
Chris Koon willed the Blue Eagles to a spirited fightback with a game-high 19 points.
Ateneo has now won nine of its last ten UAAP men's basketball matchups against La Salle, dating back to 2017.
Kai Ballungay pulled off a noteworthy double-double of 18 points and 16 boards for the Katipunan side.
From trading threes in the endgame to thwarting a nine-point deficit in the second half, Ateneo gave one big fight in the final stretch of the ballgame to pin down an in-form La Salle side.
“I think a lot of people will get really excited about this but it’s the second game of the season. It’s a great rivalry game between two proud universities and obviously we’re delighted we won that," Ateneo coach Tab Baldwin said.
"But most importantly, I think we found some fight. It was lacking last game and to find it is very rewarding."
The “fight” once lost in their opening loss to NU has re-emerged to a significant extent in the eyes of Baldwin.
“Most importantly, I think we found some fight. It was lacking last game and to find it is very rewarding," Baldwin bared.
"However, the quality of performance needs to be better but I think it will get better. This is a tough game to try and go out and be efficient when you have that emotion and intensity of the opposition."
Ateneo (1-1) eyes a win streak over Adamson (1-1) as La Salle (1-1) aims for retribution against UST (0-2) at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum on Saturday.
The scores:
Ateneo (77) – Koon 19, Ballungay 18, Amos 12, Obasa 11, Brown 8, Espinosa 5, Lazaro 2, Chiu 1, Quitevis 1, Credo 0, Bongo 0, Nieto 0, Gomez 0.
DLSU (72) – Quiambao 17, Nelle 15, Abadam 11, Nonoy 9, Austria 5, Cortez 4, Manuel 3, B. Phillips 3, M. Phillips 2, David 0, Escandor 0, Gollena 0.
Quarterscores: 25-23; 37-39; 47-54; 77-72.
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