MANILA, Philippines – The Ateneo Blue Eagles stayed on track of their title defense as they caged the FEU Tamaraws, 63-46, on Saturday, September 14, in the UAAP Season 82 men’s basketball tournament at the Mall of Asia Arena. 

Thirdy Ravena (12 points and 10 rebounds) and Angelo Kouame (14 points and 12 rebounds) paced the Blue Eagles with double-double performances as the defending champions’ discipline proved to be the key to their pristine 4-0 record. 

“That’s really what we’re trying to do with our defense, which is to keep other teams’ offense off-balance. Tonight, we were able to do that pretty well,” said Ateneo head coach Tab Baldwin.

“It was a good defensive struggle because FEU is a very clever team defensively and we had all kinds of problems trying to attack their switching defense.”

Barkley Eboña and Xyrus Torres put up 8 points apiece in FEU’s losing effort.

Flashing their elite defense from the get-go, the Blue Eagles went up 11-0 before Torres drained a triple to end FEU’s scoring drought with 3:49 left in the opening period. 

After the Tamaraws limited the defending champions to only 5 points in the 2nd quarter, Adrian Wong drained two three-pointers that sparked the Blue Eagles’ offense in the 3rd period. 

Kouame knocked in a top-of-the-key three to stretch the Blue Eagles’ lead to 19 points, which ultimately pinned the lead for Ateneo.

The Scores

Ateneo 63 – Kouame 14, Wong 13, Ravena 12, Mi. Nieto 4,Navarro 4, Mamuyac 3, Ma. Nieto 3, Tio 3, Belangel 2, Daves 2, Go 2, Maagdenberg 1, Andrade 0, Chiu 0, Credo 0, Mallillin 0.

FEU 46 – Ebona 8, Torres 8, Comboy 6, Gonzales 6, Nunag 5, Bienes 4, Tuffin 3, Alforque 2, Tempra 2, Cani 1, Tchuente 1, Celzo 0, Dulatre 0, Mantua 0, Stockton 0.

Quarters: 18-6, 23-15, 47-32, 63-46.

– Rappler.com