The Ateneo Blue Eagles are not yet done in extending their winning streak to their longest in recent league history of the 84th University Athletic Association of the Philippines men’s basketball tournament.
The relentless Blue Eagles kept their winning run unbroken for 33 games on Thursday after posting a massive, 101-51 smothering of the University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers at the Mall of Asia Arena.
The Blue Eagles have not lost a single match for the last three seasons since 2018, capped by Thursday’s whopping 50-point triumph, the league’s biggest since 2016.
No squad in the league has won by a such a big margin since the La Salle Green Archers came away with a 43-point, 99-56 thrashing of UST five years ago.
Raffy Verano and SJ Belangel hit 18 and 16 points, respectively, for the Blue Eagles, who went on to claim their 10th straight triumph this season. They also moved four wins closer to a 14-game sweep and a chance to earn an outright finals’ slot.
“I think the difference in the scoreline is a reflection of our coaching staff. They really asked for a 40-minute performance from our players. This is something that has plagued us this year. We have not had a 40-minute performance. Today, we came close to that,” said Blue Eagles’ coach Tab Baldwin.
The winless Growling Tigers, led by Nico Cabanero with 18 points, were limited by Ateneo’s defenders to 36 points in the first three quarters, including 15 in the third as the Eagles established an 80-36 spread before the start of the fourth period.
Geo Chiu, who had 14 points, gave Ateneo a 47-point lead with his two charities, 79-32, with 1:36 remaining in the third.
And it would even eventually go up to 53 points, after Forthsky Padrigao canned a layup, 101-48, with 42 seconds left.
The Growling Tigers, who started falling behind after Ateneo took a 15-0 run in the first quarter and claimed a 22-8 first quarter lead, are at the bottom of the standings with their 10th consecutive setback.
The Blue Eagles took control of the boards with 49 rebounds, with Angelo Kouame, who had 10 points, hauling down nine. Kouame got a lift from Chiu with eight rebounds, along with Verano, Josh Lazaro and Dave Ildefonso, with seven apiece.
Meanwhile, Xyrus Torres nailed the game-winning trey to bolster Far Eastern University to a 59-57 win over National University in another game.
The Tamaraws snapped their three-game skid and were able to grab a piece of the fourth spot with the victory, tying the Bulldogs at 4-6.
“We really needed this win kasi NU ‘yung hinahabol namin. We did not give up, especially in the second half. It’s all about trust for us,” said FEU head coach Olsen Racela.
FEU will cap Saturday’s quadruple-header against University of the East at 7 p.m., while NU will meet the unscathed Ateneo de Manila University at 12:30 p.m.