La Salle ousts UE in OT; Ateneo annihilates UST by 50 to clinch Final Four spot

The De La Salle Green Archers survived the UE Red Warriors, 85-82, in the first overtime game of UAAP Season 84 on Wednesday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

UE's Allan Beltran tied the game at 69-all to send the game into an extra period, but La Salle kept their poise in the clutch. 

Mark Nonoy delivered the dagger triple to push the Green Archers to an 83-78 lead in the final seconds of the game.

Harvey Pagsanjan put up a last ditch effort to steal the game for the Red Warriors, but free throws from Justine Baltazar sealed the Taft-Based squad's seventh win.

Justine Baltazar registered a double-double with 14 points and 22 rebounds while Mike Phillips made 12 points and 26 boards for DLSU. Schonny Winston listed 18 markers while Kurt Lojera added 17 points in the win.

Earlier, the Ateneo de Manila Blue Eagles clinched its seventh straight Final Four appearance after a 50-point beatdown of the UST Growling Tigers, 101-51.

The Katipunan-based squad's annihilation of the Tigers is the biggest margin recorded since the computerization of UAAP stats in 2003. It broke the record previously held by the De La Salle Green Archers' win against UST, 99-56, back in October 2016.

Ateneo ran like a well-oiled machine in the Thursday opener as six of its players scored in double digits, with Raffy Verano tallying 18 and SJ Belangel adding 16. The output was a stark contrast from the Tigers' performance as only Nic Cabanero scored in twin numbers with 18.

The Adamson Soaring Falcons, meanwhile, snapped the UP Fighting Maroons' eight-game winning streak with a 66-58 victory.

Jerom Lastimosa listed 13 points while Didat Hanapi had 12 points in their third straight win this season. Ricci Rivero had 14 points while Carl Tamayo made 12 in the UP loss.

Meanwhile, the FEU Tamaraws survived the NU Bulldogs, 59-57. Xyrus Torres made 16 points, while Emmanuel Ojuola had 11 points and 11 rebounds in the FEU win.

Ateneo stayed perfect in the tournament with 10 wins, while UP (8-2) and DLSU (7-3) retained their hold of the 2-3 spots. NU, FEU, and Adamson were tied at the fourth spot with identical 4-6 cards, while UST stayed at the second to the last spot with 3-7.

UE, meanwhile, has officially been ousted from the Final Four race as it remained winless in ten games.

Second round action continues on Saturday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

—MGP, GMA News