The Ateneo Blue Eagles got off to a strong start, blew a 14-point lead and outscored Japan in the final minute for an 80-74 win last night in the 2018 William Jones Cup.
Angelo Koume led the Blue Eagles with 15 points, while Thirdy Ravena provided 14 for the Blue Eagles, who bounced back from two losses with their second win in four games.
Japan was closing in on the last 30 seconds after Takuma Sato scored on a triple, 73-76.
As the Blue Eagles took possession, Sato slapped Adrian Wong on the left side of his face during an inbound and this led to a commotion.
Wong then finalized the count for Ateneo with four charity shots, 80-73.
Sato showed the way for the Japanese side with 12 points, while Koyo Takahashi had 11.
The Blue Eagles enjoyed a 48-34 lead in the third period before the Japanese unleashed a 29-14 rally to take charge, 63-62 , in the final canto.
The Philippine team will next meet Indonesian club team CLS Knights on Thursday.
The Scores:
Philippines 80 – Kouame 15, Ravena 14, Wong 11, Nieto Ma 10, Mamuyac 9, Mendoza 8, Nieto Mi 5, Verano 4, Black 2, Go 2, Maagdenberg 0, White 0.
Japan 74 – Sato 12, Takahashi 11, Imamura 10, Hashimoto 9, Tamaki 8, Namizato 6, Hiraiwa 5, Toews 5, Schafer 5, Nakanishi 3, Sugiura 0, Inoue 0. Quarterscores: 21-13, 37-31, 60-55, 80-74.