DESPITE mowing down the opposition this season, coach Tab Baldwin of reigning three-time champion Ateneo said his charges have yet to display a facet of their game that he had long wanted to see–playing relentlessly.
That finally changed after the Blue Eagles beat the Growling Tigers to a pulp, pulling off a merciless 101-51 victory yesterday for their 10th straight win and gaining a Final Four slot in the 84th UAAP basketball tournament at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.
Raffy Verano led a balanced attack with 18 points and seven rebounds, while SJ Belangel chipped in 16 markers spiked by five three-pointers, to go with three boards and five assists.
Geo Chiu also had 14 and eight, while Josh Lazaro, Dave Ildefonso, and 6-foot-10 naturalized Filipino center Ange Kouame added 12, 11, and 10 points, respectively, for the Eagles, who scored a fitting follow-up to their 76-63 thumping of the University of the East Red Warriors three days ago and hiked their record to 10-0 and 36-0 since 2018.
The Katipunan-based five’s 50-point winning margin is the biggest since statistics were computerized in 2003 and eclipsed La Salle’s 43-point thrashing of the Growling Tigers 99-56 on October 23, 2016.
UST, coming off a similarly lopsided 83-112 loss to La Salle last Tuesday, fell to 3-7.
In the second game, Xyrus Torres sank a dagger of a three-pointer with 2.0 seconds left as Far Eastern University edged National University 59-57 to snap a three-game losing skid.
The Bulldogs committed a costly turnover after an L-Jay Gonzales free throw that shoved FEU to within 56-57.
Torres missed a triple try in the ensuing play, but the Tams got the offensive rebound and set up Torres for another attempt which he boomed that sent the crowd into frenzy.
John Llyod Clemente had a chance to win it for NU, but FEU’s defense forced him to throw a wild shot at the buzzer.
Torres wound up with 16 points for the Tams, while Nigerian import Emman Ojuola had a double-double of 11 markers, 11 rebounds, five assists, two steals, and two blocks.
Simone Sandagon also had 10 points as FEU made up for its painful 70-73 to University of the Philippines last Tuesday and tied the Bulldogs at fourth with identical 4-6 cards.
NU failed to rebound from its 55-62 defeat to Adamson University three days ago.
“I think the difference in the score line is a reflection that our coaching staff asked for 40 minutes of performance from our players, and that’s something that’s plagued us this year,” Baldwin said.
“We haven’t given that 40-minute performance, and today we came in pretty close apart from making them a little bit loose with the ball with 19 turnovers, I think that it was a pretty comprehensive performance on both ends of the floor,” he added.
