Blue Eagles regain form, clip Soaring Falcons
MANILA, Philippines (Updated 4:16 p.m.) — The Ateneo Blue Eagles returned to their winning ways after downing the Adamson Soaring Falcons, 76-55, in the UAAP Season 85 men's basketball tournament at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City on Wednesday.
A 12-0 start by the Blue Eagles in the third salvo courtesy of Kai Ballungay and Dave Ildefonso blew the game wide open for the Katipunan-based squad, which improved to 4-2.
Ildefonso also hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer ending first half to push Ateneo's lead to nine, 41-32.
But it was the scoring burst to open the period in Ateneo's patented third quarters that made the lead insurmountable for the Falcons.
Late in the game, the Eagles ballooned their lead to as big as 23, 76-53, after a Kyle Ong basket with 44.5 left.
Ballungay played his biggest game for Ateneo so far with 21 points on 8-of-10 shooting to go along with four rebounds and two assists.
Ildefonso added 15 markers, three rebounds, one assist and one steal.
Ange Kouame was limited to four points but he grabbed 12 rebounds, dished out five assists, blocked three shots, and had two steals.
Ateneo head coach Tab Baldwin was delighted after the Blue Eagles bounced back from a loss to defending champions UP last weekend.
"Very happy to get back on the right side of the win-loss column, after the tough UP loss. It's not easy for the guys to bounce back from those emotional games," said Baldwin.
Jerom Lastimosa paced the Falcons with 18 points while Lenda Douanga finished with eight points and 10 rebounds.
Adamson fell to 2-4 for the season.
The Eagles end their first round against the resurgent UE Red Warriors on Sunday at Ynares Antipolo. The Falcons, meanwhile, clash with the DLSU Green Archers the day before.
The scores:
ATENEO 76 -- Ballungay 21, Ildefonso 15, Gomez 8, Chiu 7, Padrigao 5, Lazaro 5, Kouame 4, Andrade 4, Garcia 3, Koon 3, Daves 2, Ong 2, Quitevis 0, Fetalvero 0, Fornilos 0, Lao 0.
ADAMSON 55 -- Lastimosa 18, Douanga 8, Torres 6, Manzano 5, Flowers 4, Jaymalin 3, Fuentebella 3, Yerro 2, Barasi 2, Barcelona 2, W. Magbuhos 2, V. Magbuhos 0, Colonia 0.
Quarters: 22-16, 41-32, 61-47, 76-55.
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