Defending champion De La Salle continued its hot streak and hammered down Adamson, 70-45, to clinch the first Final Four spot in the UAAP Season 87 men’s basketball at the UST Quadrennial Pavilion in Manila on Saturday, Oct. 19.

The Green Archers stepped on the gas in the second quarter and went on an offensive spree, building a 62-37 cushion on their way to their sixth straight win.

The victory improved La Salle to 9-1 while Adamson plummeted to its fourth straight loss for a 3-6 record and a three-way tie with Far Eastern University and Ateneo at the bottom half of the standings.

Reigning Most Valuable Player Kevin Quiambao paced the Archers with 17 points, while Joshua David added 11. Henry Agunnane and Raven Gonzalez added eight points apiece.

Cedrick Manzano and AJ Fransman tallied 14 and eight points, respectively, in a losing effort for Adamson.

Earlier, Ateneo banked on its strong start before halting University of Santo Tomas’ late run to prevail 67-64 for its first back-to-back wins.

Four players scored in double figures for the Eagles, who exploited the absece of Tigers’ main man Mo Tounkara, en route to their third win against six defeats.

Andrew Bongo tallied 14 points including three triples and hauled seven rebounds to lead Ateneo’s charge, while Ian Espinosa chipped in a career-high 11 points and six boards. Chris Koon and Shawn Tuano provided 10 points apiece.

“I think this was one of the gutsiest win we had from the few years," said Ateneo head coach Tab Baldwin.

"This is a team in stingy in the ball, we give our self a chance, although we had 8 turnovers today is kind a in line with our play throughout season," he added.

Ateneo waxed hot with an early 17-4 lead in the opening quarter and kept its momentum despite numerous attempts from UST.

Nic Cabanero scored 18 points and six rebounds, while Christian Manaytay posted 11 points, but their efforts went futile as the Tigers suffered their third consecutive defeat for 4-6.

Meanwhile, UST leaned on Kent Pastrana’s fourth-quarter heroics to eke past Ateneo, 77-73, in the women’s side.

Pastrana spearheaded a quick 7-2 run to give the Golden Tigresses the needed 69-59 separation en route to the win.

UST improved to 8-1 while Ateneo skidded to 4-5.

Bridgette Santos backstopped Pastrana with 15 points while Tacky Tacatac added 12 for the Tigresses as they overshadowed the efforts of Junize Calago and Kacey Dela Rosa, who pumped in 23 points apiece.