The La Salle Green Archers outlasted the Ateneo Blue Eagles, 76-73, in overtime in the UAAP Season 89 Men’s Basketball Tournament at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.
Henry Agunanne’s dunk with 12.1 seconds left tied the game at 66 and sent it to overtime. In the extra period, Mason Amos hit a three against his former team to give La Salle a 75-69 lead with 1:35 remaining.
Ateneo refused to go down quietly. Kieffer Alas scored on back-to-back layups to cut the deficit to two, 73-75, with 28.4 seconds left. His second basket came while La Salle played four-on-five after Joaquin Tovera hurt his right ankle on the previous play.
Agunanne split his free throws to make it 76-73 with 17.6 seconds left, and Travis Roberts missed a turnaround jumper on the other end. Ateneo got two more chances after La Salle missed four straight free throws, but Alas’ inbound pass with 3.3 seconds left bounced off Jared Bahay’s knee and out of bounds. Ian Espinosa’s desperation heave at the buzzer fell short.
“When the game went to overtime, we just reminded everybody about what we discussed before the game,” said La Salle head coach Topex Robinson. “These guys just showed up, and they believed in what we prepared for.”
Tovera led the Green Archers with 21 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists, while Jcee Macalalag added 11 points.
For Ateneo, Bahay finished with 18 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 steals. Alas also had 18 points, while Shawn Tuano and Roberts chipped in 12 points each.
NU Holds Off UST
Earlier that day, the NU Bulldogs held off the UST Growling Tigers, 75-71.
The game was tied at 57 entering the fourth quarter. UST moved ahead first, as Andrew Chio’s three and Kristian Porter’s layup gave the Growling Tigers a 62-57 lead. NU answered with a 10-0 run sparked by Mo Diassana, Kenshin Padrones, Tebol Garcia, and Paul Francisco to go up 67-62.
Diassana’s dunk off a Reinhard Jumamoy pass made it 73-66 with 42.1 seconds left. Landyn Jumawan and Amiel Acido then scored 5 straight points to cut the deficit to two, 71-73. However, PJ Palacielo went to the free-throw line twice in the final 6.5 seconds to seal the win.
“Good win for us definitely kasi UST hindi naman basta-basta ’yan talaga. Isa rin sa contenders ’yung UST,” said NU head coach Jeff Napa. “Good thing lumabas ’yung effort namin this game up to the last minute.”
Diassana led the Bulldogs with 16 points and 19 rebounds. Palacielo added 14 points and 6 rebounds, Padrones had a double-double of 13 points and 12 rebounds, and Garcia chipped in 12 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists.
For UST, Acido finished with 13 points and 5 rebounds. Mark Llemit had 12 points, 4 assists, and 3 rebounds, while Collins Akowe and Chio contributed 11 points each.
La Salle will next face NU on Sunday, November 8, at 2:30 p.m. at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City. Later that day, at 5:00 p.m., UST will face the FEU Tamaraws. Meanwhile, Ateneo will next face the University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons on Saturday, November 7, at 6:00 p.m. at the same venue.
