Ateneo Blue Eagles survive FEU Tamaraws, move to 11-0

The Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles withstood a spirited challenge put forth by the Far Eastern University Tamaraws to come away with a 65-55 win in the UAAP Season 82 men's basketball tournament on Wednesday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

The win was Ateneo’s 11th in a row, placing them three wins away from a sweep of the elimination round and an outright spot in the finals.

Down by as much as 13 points, the Blue Eagles stayed the course and turned things around in the second half, leaning on their dominance of the boards as well as their stingy defense that held FEU scoreless for over three minutes in the fourth canto to help build a 54-47 lead.

Thirdy Ravena and Ange Kouame had double-doubles, the former putting in 10 points and 10 rebounds while the latter had 10 markers and 15 boards, 12 coming on the offensive board. The big man also protected the rim well, racking up four blocked shots.

The Tamaraws gave the Blue Eagles a scare as they trimmed the deficit to two, 55-57, but Ateneo did not blink and scored eight unanswered points to put the game away.

L-Jay Gonzales had 12 points, six rebounds and two assists to lead FEU, which dropped to fifth place in the standings with a 5-6 win-loss card.

The scores:

Ateneo 65 - Kouame 10, Ravena 10, Maagdenberg 9, Navarro 8, Wong 8, Belangel 5, Daves 4, Ma. Nieto 4, Mamuyac 3, Go 2, Mi. Nieto 2, Andrade 0, Tio 0.

FEU 55 - Gonzales 12, Bienes 8, Comboy 8, Tuffin 6, Cani 4, Ebona 4, Stockton 4, Tchuente 4, Torres 3, Alforque 2.

Quarterscores: 15-18; 29-40; 46-47; 65-55.

(Photo courtesy of The UAAP Facebook page)