By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
The Ateneo Blue Eagles used all the tricks in their bag after surviving the resilient and tough National University (NU) Bulldogs, 74-64, for their fifth straight win in the ongoing 2022 UAAP men’s seniors basketball tournament.
It is the first time this UAAP Season 84 that a team challenged Ateneo to a nip-and-tuck affair and looked to rust their perfect record since their last loss in October 2018.
From the get-go, it was a usual Ateneo advantage when they picked the Bulldogs apart with their sharp motion offense that always found an open guy with their crisp passing.
The Blue Eagles continued to rip NU when SJ Belangel and Ange Kouame started to gain their offensive rhythm in the first quarter including Tyler Tio’s efficient shooting from the three-point area.
However, NU suddenly shifted gears and varied their defensive sets depending on their matchup, mixing a pesky zone defense and a tight man-to-man.
The results paid off when NU was able to mount a stellar offensive run and kept themselves within striking distance the whole game, not letting the Blue Eagles to take full control of the pace and assert their dominance.
Ateneo’s scariest moment came at the 7:50 mark of the final canto when NU was able to convert a wide-open layup off a steal that trimmed their lead to only just one, 60-59.
Jolo Mendoza answered with a three-pointer on the other end but the Bulldogs quickly raced down the court and converted another layup to cut Ateneo’s lead to two.
Kouame and Belangel sank clutch baskets to extend their lead to six, 67-61, but a three-pointer from NU’s Reyland Torres kept them alive and sparked the Bulldogs once again.
Ateneo then put the cherry on top courtesy of clutch shots from Dave Ildefonso and Gian Mamuyac who scored five straight points that put the exclamation point in the match.
