University of the Philippines got its revenge over defending champion Ateneo, foiling a feisty comeback by the Blue Eagles in the fourth quarter to win, 65-60, in the second round of the UAAP Season 86 Men’s Basketball Tournament at the SMART Araneta Coliseum, with 17,406 fans in attendance on Sunday.
The Fighting Maroons waited 10 months before having another crack at the Blue Eagles, but lost in the first round, 99-89, just last week in overtime.
But UP was not to be denied this time as it improved to solo first with an 8-1 record with five more games to go in the eliminations.
“Maybe it took a while for us to get our rhythm offensively,” said Fighting Maroons’ head coach Goldwin Monteverde. “We were a little bit in a hurry during the first quarter. Our defense held up Ateneo and during the last stretch, we were more patient offensively.”
The Maroons opened up a 10-point lead at the end of the third quarter as Terrence Fortea, who just made his UP season debut, and Gerry Abadiano joined forces in turning a 32-20 tight lead to a 49-39 advantage.
Down 42-54 in the fourth period, Blue Eagles Jared Brown, Joseph Obasa, and Kai Ballungay teamed up for 12 straight points and tied the game at 54 with 5:55 left.
However, Harold Alarcon and Abadiano answered back with a triple and a jump shot, respectively, to give UP the lead for good with 4:51 remaining, 59-54.
Alarcon extended the lead to six with 45.3 seconds to go, but in the next play, Mason Amos drained a three-pointer with 42.9 seconds left to pull the Blue Eagles within three, 60-63.
UP then milked the clock in the next possession before Alarcon attempted a wild floater that missed, giving Ateneo a chance to tie.
With no timeouts left, Ateneo had no other choice but to stick to a five without Mason Amos and Kai Ballungay.
Obasa attempted and missed a layup with his team trailing by three with less than six seconds left.
“Our effort as a team is there. We lost to Ateneo during the first round and that really hurt us,” said third-year guard Abadiano, who played his best game so far this season with 22 points, three rebounds, two assists, and a steal.
Ateneo dropped to a 4-5 record, tying for the fourth and fifth positions with Adamson University. This marked the team’s highest number of defeats in an elimination round during the Tab Baldwin era, surpassing their previous record of four losses in Season 79
UP will go for three straight wins on Sunday when it tangles with De La Salle University, while Ateneo aims to rebound a day before against National University. Both games will be played at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.