Ateneo defeats UP in the Game 2 of UAAP finals.
Ateneo Blue Eagles denied UP Fighting Maroons a championship, forcing a do-or-die game on Friday.
Newly- crowned UAAP MVP Ange Kouame showed how worthy he is with the award as he led the Blue Eagles to a 69-66 win at the Game 2 of the Finals at the Mall of Asia Arena in front of a strong 13,521 crowd attendance.
He led the way in points and rebound with a double-double performance, delivering 14 points and 14 rebounds, along with eight blocks.
Off the bench senior Tyler Tio gave his all for this game to not be his final game for his collegiate career. He contributed 14 points in just 19 minutes of play.
While Dave Ildefonso bounced back after his disappointing outing in Game 1 with just 6 points with 6 turnovers. He gave his team the missing piece with his all around game delivering 10 points, 8 boards, 4 assists, and 2 steals.
But it was not a breeze of a game for the Blue Eagles. With them leading most of the way, Rookie of the Year Carl Tamayo charged a run that tied the game, 61-all in the fourth quarter. Tamayo led his team with 18 points and 12 rebounds.
With just 2:03 left in the game, Kouame and SJ Belangel combined for four straight points to retake momentum. The crucial minute all boiled down to defense as Gian Mamuyac secured a crucial steal off an inbound and zoomed to the basket for an easy conversion to create a six-point lead, 69-63, at the 48.9-second mark.
Blue Eagles head coach Tab Baldwin, though relieved with the results, has something else in mind about this finals match-up/ "This series feels like a La Salle series. It doesn’t feel like college basketball. It feels like there’s something else at stake.”
"Tonight, we responded and we did the job in key statistical categories. Everything else in the stat sheet looks good for us," he added.
Game 3 of the finals will be played on Friday, May 13.
Tags: # Basketball, # UAAP, #Ateneo, # sports