Ateneo de Manila University star Kymani Ladi against University of the East in UAAP Season 88 men’s basketball. Photo from UAAP Media.
MANILA (UPDATED) — Ateneo de Manila University is on an early roll in the UAAP Season 88 men's basketball tournament.
The Blue Eagles overcame the third-quarter surge of University of the East to complete a 62-60 victory on Wednesday at the University of Santo Tomas Quadricentennial Pavilion in España for their second straight win.
Kymani Ladi propelled the Katipunan-based hoopers to victory, posting 18 points with 10 rebounds. The 6-foot-7 one-and-done ace also drained the go-ahead basket in the endgame to avoid a collapse, after the Blue Eagles squandered a double-digit advantage.
Despite yet another stellar performance in the clutch from Ateneo, Ladi said that things should not have reached that point if they had shown consistency.
"I think we had a good lead coming after the half. Credit to UE, they fought just as much as we did," he said. "But at the same time, good shot? But man, it shouldn't even have gotten to that point."
Aside from the Filipino-American forward, Waki Espina also delivered in the fourth for Ateneo, hitting a crucial three-pointer to complete his 17 points with two assists, while Jared Bahay and Dom Escobar finished with eight and seven markers, respectively.
Following this contest, the Blue Eagles moved to 2-0 in the team standings, while the Red Warriors fell to 0-2, their eighth straight loss dating back to the second round of Season 87.
Earlier, trailing 58-60 following a booming trey from Wello Lingolingo with only 31 seconds remaining in the game, Ladi rose above his defender eight seconds later for a clutch triple of his own that put Ateneo back up by one, 61-60.
Nico Mulingtapang then committed a crucial turnover in their next possession, and Lingolingo made things worse for the Red Warriors as he committed a take-away foul, leaving the Blue Eagles a chance to ice the contest from the foul line.
Dom Escobar -- who got the steal off Mulingtapang -- went on to split his charities, and Jadem Lazo missed both of his free throws with still seven seconds left to leave the door open for the Red Warriors. UE, however, flubbed their final possession with Precious Momowei unable to get a decent attempt.
Lingolingo scored 19 markers on a 7-of-18 clip from the field, while John Abate and Mulingtapang both scored nine markers.
Unfortunately for UE, they remained winless under new head coach Chris Gavina's mentorship.
The Scores:
Ateneo 62 -- Ladi 18, Espina 17, Bahay 8, Escobar 7, Lazaro 3, Gamber 3, Bongo 2, Adili 2, Espinosa 1, Lazo 1, Tuano 0, Ong 0.
UE 60 -- Lingolingo 19, Abate 11, Mulingtapang 9, Momowei 9, Jimenez 6, Caoile 4, Malaga 2, Robles 0, Tanedo 0.
Quarterscores: 21-14, 35-24, 47-47, 62-60.