Gian Mamuyac led a commanding third quarter run as undefeated Ateneo pulled away with a 94-72 victory over winless University of the East in the UAAP Season 84 men's basketball tournament at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City Thursday, April 7.
Mamuyac caught fire from beyond the arc before Matthew Daves, who scored all of his six points in the second half, reinforced the Blue Eagles' offense also off the bench en route to a flawless 6-0 record.
Chris Koon, SJ Belangel, and Ange Kouame came up with huge plays and sparked another blitz in the payoff period to seal the win as reigning champion Ateneo remained unbeaten in 32 games since 2018.
"We have problems and they manifest themselves in times during games," said Ateneo head coach Tab Baldwin. "I think finally in the fourth quarter, we did a better job defending their three-point shooting. We got to the line a lot. Ange got a big game in the second half."
Mamuyac dropped 21 points on an efficient 6-of-10 shooting including four triples and nine rebounds, Kouame had another double-double performance of 21 points on a 9-of-11 shooting to go with 13 rebounds, and Dave Ildefonso and Belangel scored 12 points apiece for the Eagles.
Kyle Paranada and Mamuyac exchanged baskets from the three-point range but it was the Ateneo team captain who prevailed in the end, contributing 10 points in their 14-0 run with 2:24 left in the third quarter en route to a 65-53 cushion.
A Jojo Antiporda three pumped life for UE at the start of the fourth period to cut the deficit down to nine, 69-60.
But Ateneo, behind the efforts of Kouame, Belangel, and Koon, uncorked another 21-4 blast, 90-64, down the stretch for the breakaway win.
UE, which earlier tied Ateneo at halftime at 39-all, experienced its last deadlock at 48-apiece after a Kouame basket midway through the third period
Paranada exploded with 15 points on top of his three treys while Kris Harvey Pagsanjan posted 15 points and six rebounds for the Red Warriors, who suffered opposite fate and fell to a 0-6 hole.
Ateneo will cap off its first round against University of Santo Tomas Saturday, April 9 while UE will face National University at 10 a.m.
The Scores:
ATENEO 84 -- Mamuyac 21, Kouame 21, Ildefonso 12, Belangel 12, Daves 6, Gomez 5, Tio 4, Koon 4, Chiu 4, Mendoza 3, Lazaro 2, Padrigao 0, Andrade 0, Mallillin 0.
UE 72 -- K. Paranada 15, Pagsanjan 15, Escamis 8, N. Paranada 8, Guevarra 6, Antiporda 6, J. Cruz 4, Lorenzana 4, Catacutan 4, Beltran 2, Abatayo 0, Sawat 0, Villanueva 0, Tulabut 0, P. Cruz 0, Pascual 0.
Quarters: 15-15, 39-39, 65-55, 84-72.