Blue Eagles relish momentum-boosting win vs Tigers

MANILA, Philippines -- Ateneo's win over the UST Growling Tigers is a “big momentum boost” for the Blue Eagles ahead of their battle against the UP Fighting Maroons over the weekend.

Coming from a 61-66 loss against the formerly-winless FEU Tamaraws in overtime, the defending champions pulled away in the second half and scored its third win in the tournament over UST, 97-77.

One of the main guns of Ateneo in the game, Chris Koon said that the win will give them momentum for their match against UP on Sunday.

“We didn’t wanna look too far ahead with the UP game, we wanna focus on UST. But, it’s definitely a good win to give us momentum for this next game. It’s gonna be a good challenge for us,” Koon, who had 21 points and six rebounds against the Tigers, told reporters.

“Of course, this is a big win for us. I’m glad that a lot of the guys that weren’t able to play got in there. Just a big momentum boost for our upcoming game against UP, our biggest challenge yet,” he added.

UST cut the lead to four, 58-62, in the third quarter following a putback by Angelo Crisostomo.

However, Ateneo ended the game with a 10-3 run to grab a 72-61 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

The Blue Eagles continued their momentum as they led by as much as 22 points, 97-75.

Rookie Mason Amos also echoed that UST was a tough team to play, and it gave them the needed momentum for their finals rematch on Sunday.

“We were focusing on UST because we didn’t want to look too far ahead with UP because we know that UST could play basketball as well,” Amos, who had 15 points in the game, said.

“They’re a tough team so I guess it gives us a good momentum going to the UP game but now we just gonna move on to the next one,” he added.
Ateneo is now 3-3 in the tournament, while UST is currently holding a 0-6 slate.