The match lived up to the hype.
Mason Amos and Kevin Quiambao figured in a brief, yet thrilling shootout in the final minutes of the much-awaited UAAP Season 86 men’s basketball match between fierce rivals Ateneo Blue Eagles and La Salle Green Archers.
Amos, though, had a last laugh as the Blue Eagles hammered out a 77-72 win for their first win of the season.
The rookie dropped an 8-point bomb inside the final 3 minutes and 11 seconds, including back-to-back triples that gave the Ateneo a 70-64 buffer with still 2 minutes remaining. Quiambao, the reigning Rookie of the Year, responded with his second triple to pull La Salle within 3, before Kai Ballungay soared for an emphatic tomahawk dunk off a pick-and-roll play.
Mark Nonoy tried to keep La Salle’s head above water with a triple and a layup in transition, 76-72, but time just wasn’t on the Green Archers' side.
Asked about that stretch after the game, Amos kept it simple.
“My teammates just getting me the right looks at the right time. It was just rhythm for my part,” he said.
While Amos downplayed it, Ballungay, who finished with 18 points and 16 rebounds, said Amos' furious fourth quarter made a world of difference for the Blue Eagles.
“He found his rhythm. We know he can do that. Coaches put him in the position to succeed and do those type of things and he showed out in the fourth quarter. That was really momentum switching,” he said.
The Blue Eagles, though, are not letting this convincing victory get into their heads.
“We just gotta take it as one game and keep pushing forward,” Ballungay said.
(MDB)