TOO strong, too deep.
These words aptly describe defending three-time champion Ateneo, which added a hapless Adamson University side to its victims yesterday.
Leaning on a fiery start and a sustained charge, the Blue Eagles dismantled the Soaring Falcons 78-47 for their third straight win and a share of the lead in the 84th UAAP basketball tournament at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.
Six-foot-10 naturalized Filipino big man Ange Kouame anchored Ateneo’s juggernaut with a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds, while Tyler Tio and Chris Koon chipped in nine markers each.
All 14 players that Eagles coach Tab Baldwin fielded in scored at least two points as Ateneo scored a fitting follow-up to its 79-70 win over Far Eastern University last Tuesday that hiked its record to 3-0.
The Eagles remained untouchable with a 29-0 winning streak in the league dating back to October 2018.
Adamson, which fell to 1-2, came off an 82-66 triumph over University of the East also last Tuesday.
In the other game, La Salle turned back FEU 75-65 also for its third straight win.
Lanky center Justine Baltazar led the Green Archers with 20 points and 11 rebounds, while Mark Nonoy added 17 markers on five triples.
Kurt Lojera had 10 points for La Salle, which nipped National University 59-55 two days ago.
“Hopefully we can use this (win) as a springboard when we face Ateneo,” Archers coach Derrick Pumaren said. “We just have to get back to the drawing board to know what to do against Ateneo.”
L-Jay Gonzales paced FEU, which dropped to 1-2, with 17 points and four rebounds, while Nigeria reinforcement Emman Ojuola contributed 13.
Baldwin insisted the Eagles’ record does not matter when they collide with archrival La Salle tomorrow at the same venue.
“Those games are behind us already. We want to put games behind us and push to the La Salle game as 0-0. It’s the only game that matters now,” Baldwin said.
“We think everybody has a job to do, and today, we were able to get everybody on the court, which we needed to do. The energy was really good out there,” he added.
The Eagles took an early 36-13 lead, but the Falcons whittled the deficit to 28-36 via a 15-0 binge bridging the second and third quarters.
Ateneo retaliated with an 18-0 blitzkrieg capped by a Kouame three-pointer that made it 52-28 before the Eagles settled for a 54-34 spread heading into the payoff period.
The Katipunan-based five never looked back from there and padded its edge to as much as 78-43 on a Geo Chiu three-point play conversion, with 1:35 remaining.
No Adamson player scored in twin digits, with Keith Zaldivar and Congolese import Lenda Douanga wounding up with six points apiece.
