Ateneo shreds UST by 50; Adamson stunner ends UP run

Even as Ateneo cruised previous but a different hapless victim with a wire-to-wire demonstrate of excellence, Adamson uncovered the vulnerability of a single of the Blue Eagles’ meant threats.

The defending winner assembled a 40-minute showcase of consistency in demolishing College of Santo Tomas (UST), 101-51, in the UAAP Season 84 men’s basketball match on Friday at Shopping mall of Asia Arena.

“Apart from getting a very little bit unfastened with the ball [and committing] 19 turnovers, I consider that it was a pretty thorough performance on the two finishes of the floor and it feels fantastic to everyone when I think you stroll off the floor experience like you performed 40 minutes of basketball as a group,” Ateneo mentor Tab Baldwin said.

Ateneo experienced six players in double figures, shot 57.6 % from the area, assisted on 27 of its 38 created field plans and scored extra factors in the initially quarter than UST coughed up in the to start with fifty percent. The Blue Eagles led by as a lot of as 53 factors, logged their 36th straight victory and, with their 10th straight this time, are inside 4 wins of claiming an outright championship slot.

As if that was not ample to send out a information to the rest of the discipline that everyone is pretty much actively playing for second position, University of the Philippines (UP), possibly the only team that can match Ateneo’s talent depth, identified out how complicated it is to keep in step with the Eagles.

Clutch baskets

Jerom Lastimosa strike clutch baskets in the very last 23 seconds as the Falcons snapped the Maroons’ eight-activity operate with a 66-58 upset.

“We geared up really hard for UP,” explained Lastimosa, nephew of PBA legend Jojo Lastimosa. “We keep in mind how when they beat us in the initially round (73-71), it was us crying. Now it’s our time to rejoice.”

Adamson upped its document to 4-6, forcing a logjam for the No. 4 spot soon after Much Jap U (FEU) surprised Nationwide College, 59-57, on a triple by hawk-eyed forward Xyrus Torres with two seconds remaining in the activity.

UP’s reduction still left it at 8-2, nevertheless in next place but now trailing Ateneo by two video games.

And obtaining been unbothered by the opposition so significantly this time, the Eagles are now hunting to slay interior foes.

“I feel we just have to have to mentally prepare ourselves for every activity,” explained forward Raffy Verano, who led Ateneo with 18 details and 7 rebounds. “Coach Tab, the coaches have been harping on that, we have a great deal of mental lapses, primarily in the second fifty percent. We’re speaking within the gamers, mentally we will need to occur to the video game with a killer intuition. I imagine currently, we basically showed a very little bit of that. I imagine relocating ahead, it’ll just hold likely up and up.”

And as substantially as the Eagles carved out the greatest margin of victory considering the fact that the UAAP computerized its stats-archiving, Baldwin wasn’t quite absolutely sure if this was Ateneo’s statement video game of the year.

“I imagine which is a grand thought to have and I would like for that to be correct,” reported Baldwin after their blowout acquire. “But I consider that we’ll only know regardless of whether that’s genuine or not if we follow it up with other game titles where by the gamers truly keep their shoulders to the grindstone and retain operating tough right all through the video game and adhere collectively and function with just one an additional.”

Small victories

And as catching up with Ateneo has become an impossible activity, at the very least for the classification spherical, universities will have to appear to celebrate regardless of what victories they can manage.

“Our mentality is just go day-to-day, sport-to-activity and see the place it leaves us,” said Adamson mentor Nash Racela, admitting that his crew wasn’t wanting at the extensive-time period at the minute. “I’m just so content that in a single month of enjoying, the gamers responded and proved they can.”

His brother, FEU mentor Olsen Racela, also expressed optimism that his staff was transferring in the right way.

“The shot of Xyrus gained the game for us. But [our] character of not providing up and trusting one particular a different is quite critical for us,” Olsen reported, introducing that Torres’ shot was a result of the Tamaraws understanding “to believe in every other.”

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