Ateneo dominates Sarr-less Adamson

ADMU's Vince Tolentino goes past ADU's Dawn Ochea. Photo by KC Cruz

The Ateneo Blue Eagles capitalized on the absence of Papi Sarr as it dominated the Adamson Falcons, 85-65, in opening day play of the UAAP Men's Basketball competition.

Without Sarr manning the paint, the Eagles rode Chi Ikeh early for an 8-0 run and never looked back, leading 25-16 after the first period after back to back triples.

Ateneo continued to lord over the Falcons in the second, with 15 offensive rebounds translating to 17 second chance points. Consecutive hits from Thirdy Ravena pushed the lead to 14, 40-26, while an Assistio triple had the Eagles ahead 43-26 at the half.

The Eagles continued with their solid play, leading by as many as 20 points after a Jolo Mendoza trey at the 1:59 mark of the third. Adamson then responded with a 6-0 run to end the period for a more manageable 59-45 deficit heading into the final 10 minutes.

It was all Ateneo from then on, though, as the Eagles cruised to victory with finishing blows from Ravena and Ikeh.

Ravena finished the game with 20 points and 10 boards, while Ikeh tallied 18 points and 17 boards in just over 20 minutes of play. Jolo Mendoza scored 14.

Kurt Lohera paced Adamson with 11 markers, while Keith Zaldivar added 10. Jerrick Ahanmisi was limited to nine points off a 4 of 16 clip, while former Ateneo player Jerie Pingoy settled for just five points with a one of six clip.

The true story was in the rebounding department, where Ateneo dominated Adamson 60-35. Twenty nine of Ateneo's rebounds were of the offensive nature, resulting in 29 points. — DVM, GMA News