UAAP: Ateneo takes pole position of HS standings; UST, FEU, and UE collect early season wins

Ateneo de Manila University defeated its rivals De La Salle Santiago Zobel, 80-65, to stay undefeated at 3-0 and stay on top of the UAAP boys basketball Tournament standings.

The pairing of Jay M Leal and Noah Banal led the charge for Ateneo, producing 19 and 17 points in the win last Sunday at Ateneo’s Blue Eagle Gym in Quezon City.

Despite being contained to only single digits, Ateneo bigman Jude Eriobu still imposed his dominance amongst the Lasallian trees, gobbling up 17 rebounds, which included seven offensive boards.

Meanwhile, Ziv Espinas and Zane Kallos also provided supplementary firepower to the Blue Eagle offense, entering double digits with 11 points, with the latter amassing nine rebounds and seven assists as well.

On the other hand, after winning their opening game of the season, the Junior Archers have now dropped two consecutive games. Guard Maco Dabao continued his impressive early-season form, notching a game-high 24 points coupled with seven rebounds, three assists, and two assists.

Off the bench, Kio Favis produced 14 points, doing most of his damage at the free throw line, making seven out of eight bonuses.

UST def. Adamson

During the first matchup of the boys’ quadruple header, defending champions University of Santo Tomas finally entered the win column via a hard-fought victory against Adamson University, 79-70.

Despite being suppressed to only seven points in the final canto, the Tiger Cubs were able to build a formidable 21-point lead throughout the first three quarters to avoid any Baby Falcons comeback. 

Ola Ajani led the overall team effort of UST, chalking up 12 points and seven rebounds. Meanwhile, seven other Tiger Cubs scored six points or more, headed by Joaqi Ludovice and JC Canapi’s nine points.

Adamson on the other hand were dealt their second loss in three games. Mac Jenodia and Keefe Iledan led their scoring efforts last Sunday, getting 11 and 10 points each. 
 
FEU-D def. NUNS

In a heated matchup between early Final Four contenders, Far Eastern University-Diliman edged out National University-Nazareth School, 79-78, to grab their second win of the year.

Cabs Cabonilas led all scorers in the bout with 22 points, including a crucial triple to give the FEU-D a two-point cushion with 19 seconds left in the game clock. 

Despite Lucido answering back with a perfect trip from the free throw line to tie the game at 78-all, Marc Burgos had the last say in the game, draining one out of two bonus shots to deliver the Baby Tamaraws the victory.

Cabonilas finished with a double-double, also grabbing 13 rebounds in the win.

Off the bench, Sam Hall and Jheremy Godoy produced 13 and 11 points respectively.

For NUNS, Sean Lucido led them in the scoring department with 20 points. The young cager also grabbed six rebounds and five assists as the Bullpups suffered its first loss of the season.

Kurl Figueroa and Moussa Diakite followed suit with 17 and 16 markers of their own, with the former collecting 10 rebounds as well.

UE def. UPIS

In the last game of boys action, University of the East garnered their second straight win with a commanding win over University of the Philippines-Integrated School, 92-72.

Ethan Aguas had himself a domineering performance against UPIS, leading the Junior Red Warriors with 19 points whilst grabbing a game-high 15 rebounds.

Just trailing Aguas was Sizco Roquid and Jamal Diaz, scoring 14 and 10 points respectively.

On the other hand, the Fighting Maroons experienced their third loss in as many games. Jhustin Hallare exploded for 32 points while also collecting 10 boards. Bruce Tubongbanua and Kean Poquiz swiftly followed with 13 and 12 points to their names.

UST def. Ateneo (Girls)

In the girls tournament, titleholders University of Santo Tomas imploded on Ateneo de Manila University, 136-32, to stay unblemished at 2-0.

En route to a 104-point victory, Riri Perez collected a triple-double for her efforts, scoring 16 points, grabbing 10 rebounds, and dishing out 11 assists.

Meanwhile four more Juniors Tigresses collected 14 points or more, which was headed by Nadine Labay and Janice Oczon’s 21 and 20-point performances.

On the other hand, Ateneo were spearheaded by Matia Molina’s 11 and Tyler Templo’s nine points.

—JKC, GMA Integrated News