THE UAAP Final Four cast is finally complete, with the Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles securing the last slot after defeating the Adamson University Soaring Falcons yesterday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
In a game where everything was on the line, the Blue Eagles made sure that the Soaring Falcons would not spring to life and steal the game from them again by dominating the game 70-48 in front of 7,000 viewers.
The Blue Eagles secured their 9th consecutive UAAP Final Four trip at the expense of the fierce Soaring Falcons. On Saturday, November 25, they will meet their championship foe, the University of the Philippines (UP) Fighting Maroons.
The Katipunan-based squad was fast to take up their phase, connecting all their shots right from the start. Jared Brown, who struggled with his shooting against La Salle, scored 14 points in the first half and nailed four jumpers from beyond the arc.
Mason Amos scored eight points in the first half for the Blue Eagles. The two players nearly outscored the whole Soaring Falcons team in the first half, combining for six three-pointers to give the Blue Eagles a 40-26 lead at the break.
“Our coaches have been preaching the game plan and just following what they would say, and I think today we really followed it to a T and we executed what they wanted, and it resulted in the scoreboard and our execution,” said Brown.
“I think I was just getting the shots. My teammates were finding me in the right spots. It was my job to just knock them down. I didn’t really have a good shooting last game, I needed to hit those today, luckily they went in,” he explained, referring to his shooting 1-of-12 against the Green Archers last Saturday.
The Blue Eagles continued their dominance in the fourth quarter, scoring six straight points on baskets by Kai Ballungay, Sean Quitevis and Joseph Obasa to take a 62-39 lead with 6:18 remaining.
“I guess probably in the scoreboard it didn’t look like a tough game in the end, but it was a very tough game. It always is with Adamson and I think that’s reflective probably on the low score,” said Ateneo head coach Tab Baldwin.
Brown finished the game with 20 points, four rebounds, four assists and a steal. Quitevis, who shot only 25% from deep in the elimination round, finished with 11 points on 3-of-4 shooting from beyond the arc.
Amos contributed 10 points. Obasa, a 6-foot-10 Nigerian, aided the squad by grabbing 16 rebounds despite shooting 1-of-7 for four points.
Heartwarming moment
Adamson’s graduating senior Jerom Lastimosa entered the game twice: the first, with 24.8 seconds left in the first half, after missing all but one game due to a severe ACL injury.
Before the game ended, Ateneo rookie Kyle Gamber threw the ball to Lastimosa, who then hit a buzzer-beating triple to end not just the game but also his collegiate career.
Photo Courtesy: UAAP Media Group
Lastimosa has been an important character not just for his club, the Adamson Soaring Falcons, but also for the entire UAAP community. The point guard’s jersey No. 7 was retired by his school prior to the start of the season ahead of his final playing year in the UAAP Season 86.
“No other member of the Soaring Falcons Basketball Men’s Team may wear this number again, in recognition of Jerom Lastimosa’s remarkable journey as an athlete,” said Adamson in a blog post.
Final Four of the UAAP Women’s Basketball
National University (NU) defeated fourth-ranked Ateneo, 58-43, to progress to its ninth consecutive UAAP Women’s Basketball Finals.
Camille Clarin led NU with 12 points in the first half, along with four assists and three rebounds. Maymay Canuto and Jainaba Konateh each had eight points and nine and seven rebounds, respectively.
Meanwhile, the third-ranked UP rallied from a 20-point deficit in the second quarter to force a rubber match against the second-seeded University of Santo Tomas (UST), winning 88-80.
Louna Ozar, a Filipino-French rookie, led the Fighting Maroons with 25 points, three rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block. Kaye Pesquera contributed 19 points while Rhea Sanchez contributed 12.
UP will try to surprise UST once more when they meet at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Saturday at 9:00 a.m.
