Ateneo continues to roll in the UAAP Season 88 men’s basketball tournament.
In front of 17,185 fans, the Blue Eagles thwarted a furious rally by archrivals La Salle Green Archers to grab a wire-to-wire, 81-74 victory in their first meeting of the season Sunday at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
La Salle sliced a 33-point lead to single digit late, but its fightback came a little too late against an Ateneo side that banked on defense to build a mountain of an upperhand.
The troika Kymani Ladi, Dom Escobar and Shawn Tuano had 15 markers apiece for Ateneo. Joshua Lazaro chipped in nine points.
The Green Archers trailed by as big as 33 points, 68-35, after a pair of free throws by Ian Espinosa toward the end of the third period.
But a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Doy Dungo made it a 30 point deficit, 38-68, heading to the fourth quarter.
This sparked the Taft-based squad, who slowly nipped the disadvantage to 11, 57-68, after a split from the line by Vhoris Marasigan.
An and-one play by Shawn Tuano, though, snapped the run and push Ateneo’s lead to 14, 71-57.
However, La Salle already had more pep in their step, as they inched to within single digits, 66-75, with 1:43 to go following a pair of free throws by Mike Phillips.
A Phillips putback made it a five point game, 72-77, with 30.4 seconds remaining.
But finishing touches by Tuano and Andrew Bongo iced the game.
Leading by just three at the end of the first quarter, 14-11, Ateneo soared over the Taft-based squad with a 22-8 second frame to grab a 36-19 lead.
The onslaught did not stop there, as Blue Eagles took a lead as big as 33 points, before La Salle’s searing run.
Mike Phillips stood tall for the Green Archers with 17 points, 20 rebounds and six assists. Kean Baclaan produced his best game for La Salle thus far with 13 points and seven rebounds, while Jacob Cortez had 10.
Ateneo thus remained unbeaten through four games this season. It has equaled its win total from last season, when it with a 4-10 win-loss record.
La Salle dropped to 2-2, tied with the University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons.