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| Ateneo's Jolo Mendoza exploded with 13 markers to demolish the UE Red Warriors. |
By Kevin Estrada
PASAY CITY -- Ateneo De Manila moved to within three wins away from sweeping the UAAP Men's Basketball tournament after a convincing rout of UE 97-73 Saturday afternoon at the Mall of Asia Arena.
With a trademark team effort in full display, Tab Baldwin's Blue Eagles led by as much as 31 in an almost convincing performance, sending the now 3-9 Red Warriors to the brink of elimination if FEU defeats UP later in the second game.
Four Blue Eagles registered double figures with Thirdy Ravena leading with 17 points and coming up just a pair of rebounds shy of a double-double.
Junior guard Jolo Mendoza fired his best game of the season, firing in 13 off the bench with a 100% shooting from all angles.
Ateneo came with talons sharp in the entire game, breaking away in the second period after having an early slump in the opening frame.
Mark Maloles took the scoring cudgels for UE with a game-high 20 points after Alvin Pasaol failed to reach the double-digit scoring after being limited to just eight points.
The Scores:
Ateneo 97 -- Ravena 17, Mendoza 13, Tolentino 12, Verano 12, Asistio 9, Porter 9, Ikeh 7, Mike Nieto 7, Mamuyac 3, Andrade 2, Black 2, Go 2, Matt Nieto 2, Tio 0, White 0
UE 73 -- Maloles 20, Olayon 15, Pasaol 8, Bartolome 7, Cullar 5, Varilla 5, Acuno 4, Derige 4, Manalang 3, Conner 2, Cruz 0, Toribio 0
Quarter scores: 21-18, 48-35, 71-52, 97-73
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