ATENEO de Manila bucked a slow start and beat Adamson University, 84-60, to notch its first win in Season 78 University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) men’s basketball on Saturday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
The Blue Eagles trailed after the first quarter, 13-16, but got their acts together and broke away in the second half to bounce back from a 64-88 loss at the hands of Far Eastern University.
In the second game, University of the East (UE) stunned defending champion National University (NU), 76-71, to notch its first win in the tournament.
The Red Warriors, playing minus suspended starting center Chris Javier, forced the Bulldogs to 11 turnovers in the third period to seize control of the game and take a 60-46 lead entering the final period.
NU, which dropped to 0-2, unloaded a 15-2 assault to cut the lead to 61-62 but Edgar Charlos hit a key three-pointer that sparked a 10-3 counter to push UE’s lead back to 72-64, 1:53 remaining.
The Bulldogs never recovered from there and absorbed another heartbreaking defeat. They lost to De La Salle, 63-67, in their opening assignment last week.
Edison Batiller tallied 23 points for the Red Warriors, who bounced back from a 55-62 setback at the hands of season’s host University of the Philippines.
Reigning Most Valuable Player Kiefer Ravena led the charge of Ateneo with 24 points on 11-of-17 shooting from the field, while Von Pessumal and rookie Aaron Black chipped in 12 and 11 markers, respectively, for the team of Head Coach Bo Perasol. “The way we performed in the second half was the way we envisioned our team to be this season,” Perasol said.
“It’s a good win for us especially for our confidence. Because whatever confidence we had before the first game, it was really shattered after the FEU loss,” he added.
The Soaring Falcons, who drew 13 points and 14 rebounds from Pape Sarr, dropped to 0-2.
They were still in the game after two quarters, trailing by four, 30-34, before Ravena sparked Ateneo’s third-quarter outburst to grab a 62-48 lead entering the fourth period.
Pessumal and Black joined the scoring fray for the Blue Eagles, who extended their lead to as high as 26 points.
Joseph Nalos contributed 10 points and seven assists for Adamson, which committed 29 turnovers in the game that led to easy baskets for the Blue Eagles.
Image credits: Alysa Salen
