Ateneo closed out its eliminations campaign at the UAAP in dominating fashion, as the Blue Eaglets routed the National University Bullpups, 76-49, inside the Blue Eagle Gym this past Saturday afternoon.
Mike Nieto showed why he is poised to be named as the MVP, scoring 29 points and grabbing ten rebounds. The senior nearly matched the defending champions' team output in scoring in the first quarter, netting himself twelve points to give the Eaglets a 25-13 lead after ten minutes.
Lorenzo Joson added ten points, eight of which came in the second period, as they continued to pull even further away to erect a 47-29 lead.
Nieto ensure no attempted comeback will take place, outscoring the Bullpups 13-10 in the final ten minutes.
The victory completes a 14-0 eliminations for last season's losing finalists, a feat that earns them an automatic return trip and its accompanying thrice-to-beat advantage.
With Ateneo's sweep, the stepladder format will be invoked into action, but the official matchups will only be sorted out once a playoff game will be played first.
Adamson and La Salle-Zobel ensured that said playoff will happen after dispatching their respective opponents in contrasting fashion.
The Baby Falcons rode on Gerald Fernandez, Miguel Sasuman, Frederick Tungcab, and James Pasturan to defeat UST, 76-67, securing their first postseason since 2008. The foursome finished with a combined fifty points and twenty rebounds.
Adamson ran over the Tiger Cubs in the first quarter, forcing the also-ran side to 16 turnovers leading to seventeen points and a 31-7 lead at the end of the period. UST tried to come back in the fourth quarter through the efforts of Patrick Lapena and a defense that forced the Baby Falcons to go 2/14 from the field, but the lead proved to be too massive to overcome.
On the other hand, the Junior Archers survived their virtual-playoff against Far Eastern University, 60-58, to open the scheduled quadruple-header.
Aljun Melencio made two free throws with 8.5 second remaining to provide Zobel with a 59-55 lead. Brandrey Bienes managed to cut the lead to just one with around five seconds left, but Miguel Cabarrus made the first free throw and missed the second for the final score. Ricky Peromingan would then miss his desperation heave that could have been the game-winning shot for the Baby Tams.
Melencio finished with fourteen points, five rebounds, two assists, and five steals. Joaquin Banzon led all scorers with eighteen points on 8/12 shooting, while Marvin Lee topscored for FEU with 16 points.
In the lone non-bearing game of the day, the UE Junior Warriors finished the season winless after bowing to UPIS, 93-65.
Adamson and La Salle-Zobel's wins, coupled with NU's loss, means that a triple tie was forged involving the three teams at 9-5. To break the tie and determine the stepladder match-ups, the two teams with the superior quotient (Adamson and NU) will face off on Tuesday afternoon, with the winner taking a twice-to-beat advantage and the second seed, while the loser will be tagged as the third seed and will face the Junior Archers in a sudden-death game to kick off the postseason officially on Thursday.
Mike Nieto showed why he is poised to be named as the MVP, scoring 29 points and grabbing ten rebounds. The senior nearly matched the defending champions' team output in scoring in the first quarter, netting himself twelve points to give the Eaglets a 25-13 lead after ten minutes.
Lorenzo Joson added ten points, eight of which came in the second period, as they continued to pull even further away to erect a 47-29 lead.
Nieto ensure no attempted comeback will take place, outscoring the Bullpups 13-10 in the final ten minutes.
The victory completes a 14-0 eliminations for last season's losing finalists, a feat that earns them an automatic return trip and its accompanying thrice-to-beat advantage.
With Ateneo's sweep, the stepladder format will be invoked into action, but the official matchups will only be sorted out once a playoff game will be played first.
Adamson and La Salle-Zobel ensured that said playoff will happen after dispatching their respective opponents in contrasting fashion.
The Baby Falcons rode on Gerald Fernandez, Miguel Sasuman, Frederick Tungcab, and James Pasturan to defeat UST, 76-67, securing their first postseason since 2008. The foursome finished with a combined fifty points and twenty rebounds.
Adamson ran over the Tiger Cubs in the first quarter, forcing the also-ran side to 16 turnovers leading to seventeen points and a 31-7 lead at the end of the period. UST tried to come back in the fourth quarter through the efforts of Patrick Lapena and a defense that forced the Baby Falcons to go 2/14 from the field, but the lead proved to be too massive to overcome.
On the other hand, the Junior Archers survived their virtual-playoff against Far Eastern University, 60-58, to open the scheduled quadruple-header.
Aljun Melencio made two free throws with 8.5 second remaining to provide Zobel with a 59-55 lead. Brandrey Bienes managed to cut the lead to just one with around five seconds left, but Miguel Cabarrus made the first free throw and missed the second for the final score. Ricky Peromingan would then miss his desperation heave that could have been the game-winning shot for the Baby Tams.
Melencio finished with fourteen points, five rebounds, two assists, and five steals. Joaquin Banzon led all scorers with eighteen points on 8/12 shooting, while Marvin Lee topscored for FEU with 16 points.
In the lone non-bearing game of the day, the UE Junior Warriors finished the season winless after bowing to UPIS, 93-65.
Adamson and La Salle-Zobel's wins, coupled with NU's loss, means that a triple tie was forged involving the three teams at 9-5. To break the tie and determine the stepladder match-ups, the two teams with the superior quotient (Adamson and NU) will face off on Tuesday afternoon, with the winner taking a twice-to-beat advantage and the second seed, while the loser will be tagged as the third seed and will face the Junior Archers in a sudden-death game to kick off the postseason officially on Thursday.
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