Their defensive screens in the dying seconds worked wonders for the Ateneo Blue Eagles.
With Thirdy Ravena protecting the shaded lane, Kib Montalbo bungled an attempt, and Ben Mbala ran out of time with his drive as time expired.
“We followed coach Tab’s (Tab Baldwin’s) defensive screens. Luckily, we were successful,” said Matt Nieto, whose two charities, along with Ravena’s inside incursion in the closing seconds helped the Blue Eagles escape with a 76-75 win over the defending champion La Salle Green Archers.
Nieto canned in two charities with 3.9 seconds to give the Blue Eagles a one-point edge and a chance to finish the first round with a seven-game sweep in the 80th University Athletic Association of the Philippines men’s basketball tournament.
With a huge crowd of 14,717 cheering the two arch-rivals, Nieto shot 16 points for the Blue Eagles, who remained in the solo lead.
Mbala had 18 points for La Salle, with his two charities in the last 1:03 allowing La Salle to move in front, 75-74, for the last time.
“We really played poorly. And then, we got the last second trap. We did not execute well. We paid the price. In a game versus Ateneo, we can’t afford to play like this,” said Mbala.
They had possession of the ball in the last 9.1 seconds when Nieto intercepted an inbound to Andrei Caracut. Then, Nieto got fouled by Montalbo in the next play.
The Green Archers, averages 46.3 percent on their field goals, were actually playing well with their 50 percent shooting.
And the Blue Eagles still won despite being at 39.44, which is way below their average of 44.2 percent.
Ricci Rivero unloaded 19 points for the Green Archers, who found themselves sharing second with the Adamson Falcons in second at 5-2.
Anton Asisitio shot 14 points for Ateneo while Jolo Mendoza added 10.
The Green Archers played without an ailing point guard Aljun Melecio, who has been out for a week because of dengue, while Ateneo was without rookie Tyler Tio.
“We were asking for better defense from the guys. We weren’t too happy with our defense. And they followed the defensive scheme that we wanted to do in the last three minutes,” said Blue Eagles coach Sandy Arespacochaga.