Tigers end Blue Eagles' Final Four hopes

MANILA, Philippines -- And then, there were three. 

University of Santo Tomas booted out Ateneo from the UAAP Season 89 men’s basketball Final Four race with a crucial 89-84 victory Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. 

With their win, which came against the Kieffer Alas-less Ateneo squad, the Tigers kept themselves in the running for the two final spots in the semifinals. 

UST broke the game wide open in the second quarter, turning a slim 37-35 lead to a 50-49 halftime advantage. 

But Ateneo did not go down easily. 

The Blue Eagles fell behind by 13, 60-73, with 9:18 remaining, but they unleashed a massive 14-3 run capped by a Jared Bahay jumper to make it a one-possession ballgame, 74-76, with 5:35 to go. 

Collins Akowe and Mark Llemit then teamed up with five straight points to keep Ateneo at bay, 81-74, with 3:29 left. 

Bahay, though, went down swinging, making it a 78-81 deficit anew, before Llemit and Acido plunged in the daggers right in the Blue Eagles’ heart.

Free throws by Akowe and Acido iced the game. 

Things even got heated in the final seconds of the game, after a hard duty foul by Bahay on Akowe, which led to Shawn Tuano pushing the reigning UAAP Best Foreign Student Athlete awardee. 

But eventually, cooler heads prevailed, with UST coming out on top. 

Llemit paced UST with 20 points, seven rebounds and two assists. Acido chipped in 19 markers, 10 boards, two dimes and two steals off the bench. Akowe returned to action with 16 points, nine rebounds, an assist, a steal and a block, while Landyn Jumawan and Koji Buenaflor supplied 13 and 12 markers, respectively. 

Bahay top-scored for the Katipunan-based squad with 17 points, eight assists, three steals and three rebounds before fouling out after 34 minutes of play. Wacky Espina added 16 markers, while Andrew Bongo and Sultan Baruwa had 11 each. Tuano chipped in 10 as well for Ateneo, who dropped to 5-8. 

With National University and University of the Philippines already punching their respective Final Four tickets, the two remaining spots will be battled out by the 7-6 UST and the 7-5 Far Eastern University and La Salle.