Ateneo went berserk in the second quarter and dragged the game to a swift end with a 76-63 blowout win against University of the East in the UAAP Season 84 men's basketball tournament at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City Tuesday, April 19.
The Blue Eagles held off the Red Warriors to only three points in the second period and capitalized on the other end from the shooting spree of BJ Andrade, Gian Mamuyac, and Cris Koon.
Ateneo continued to wax hot and led by as many as 18 points after the first half, 38-20, before UE pumped life and recovered from its early slump in the third frame.
The lead, however, proved to be too much to overcome for the Warriors as the Eagles remained undefeated in nine straight games and also captured their 35th consecutive win since October 2018.
Andrade led Ateneo with a career-high of 19 points on a 6-of-8 shooting powered by five triples to go with three assists, Ange Kouame had another double-double performance of 14 points, 15 rebounds, and three assists, and SJ Belangel added 13 points.
But Ateneo head coach Tab Baldwin wasn't particularly happy with the fact that his wards shot 36.7 percent from the field despite the key defensive stops they made before the second half.
"UE and coach Jamike always play a spoiling role. We did enough to win but we're not happy with the efficiency of our offense," said Baldwin.
Nico Paranada paced the hapless UE, which fell to a 0-9 hole, with 18 points and five rebounds while Clint Escamis and Kris Harvey Pagsanjan chipped in 13 and 11 points, respectively.
Ateneo seeks to roll to its 10th straight win against University of Santo Tomas on Thursday, April 12 in the 10 a.m. curtain-raiser while UE clashes with De La Salle to cap off the quadruple-header at 7 p.m.
The Scores:
ATENEO 76 -- Andrade 19, Kouame 15, Belangel 13, Verano 6, Ildefonso 5, Lazaro 4, Chiu 4, Koon 3, Mamuyac 3, Tio 3, Padrigao 2, Mendoza 0, Daves 0, Gomez 0.
UE 63 -- N. Paranada 18, Escamis 13, Pagsanjan 11, K. Paranada 7, Lorenzana 5, J. Cruz 3, Beltran 2, Tulabut 2, Sawat 2, Villanueva 0, Guevarra 0, Abatayo 0, P. Cruz 0, Antiporda 0.
Quarters: 20-17, 38-20, 56-44, 76-63.