UE strings fourth consecutive win

Rainer Maga made it rain from the outside in a crucial fourth quarter run as University of the East shot down Ateneo de Manila University, 69-62, for its fourth straight victory in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 87 men’s basketball tournament Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The Red Warriors poured in 32 points in the final canto after scoring in the third to come up with a morale-boosting first win over the Blue Eagles, their first in over nine years. UE now climbs to solo third with a 4-2 win-loss record.   

UE’s victory snapped a 14-game head-to-head losing skid to Ateneo, since its 74-69 Season 78 win back on 14 November 2015.

“Well again, I challenged my players last practice because our rotation took a hit after one of our players got injured again. It’s Ethan Galang suffering right now from a knee problem,” said Red Warriors coach Jack Santiago, who had only a nine-man rotation available.

“The players got challenged because most players coming off the bench needed to step up and fill the spot of Ethan Galang. I’m happy with the boys. They responded very well,” the mentor added after UE marked its best start in 10 years.

Maga knocked down back-to-back triples to ignite an 11-0 run that flipped the Red Warriors’ three-point deficit in the payoff period into a 62-54 lead.

Joshua Lazaro momentarily halted the Blue Eagles’ bleeding, but John Abate sank seven of his 10 free throw attempts inside the last 58.1 seconds of the match to ice the game.   

Nigerian Precious Momowei finished with his first double-double of the season with 18 points and 15 rebounds. Wello Lingolingo had 13 markers while Abate and Maga added nine and eight points, respectively, for UE.

The Red Warriors shot 8-of-16 from the three-point area and their starters outscored their Ateneo counterparts, 46-16.     

UE got buried 35-45 in the third quarter after Shawn Tuano connected a corner three with 1:02 left.

The Blue Eagles absorbed their second consecutive defeat, for a 1-5 card, tied with Far Eastern University and National University.

Lazaro and Tuano posted 14 points each while Jared Bahay scored 12 points for Ateneo, which shot 24-of-63 from the field including a horrendous 9-of-35 outside clip.

The scores:

UE (69) --- Momowei 18, Lingolingo 13, Abate 9, Maga 8, J. Cruz-Dumont 8, Fikes 7, Mulingtapang 4, Wilson 2, H. Cruz-Dumont 0.

Ateneo (62) --- Lazaro 14, Tuano 14, Bahay 12, Bongo 7, Porter 6, Balogun 6, Espinosa 2, Koon 1, Espina 0, Gamber 0, Quitevis 0.     

Quarters: 16-15, 30-26, 37-45, 69-62