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[av_heading heading=’Ateneo vs La Salle in UAAP 80 caging finals Nieto powers Blue Eagles vs FEU in overtime ‘ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=’30’ subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=” av-medium-font-size-title=” av-small-font-size-title=” av-mini-font-size-title=” av-medium-font-size=” av-small-font-size=” av-mini-font-size=” admin_preview_bg=”]
BY ADRIAN STEWART CO
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MANILA – Matt Nieto came up with clutch hits in the overtime for Ateneo Blue Eagles to escape with an 88-84 win over Far Eastern University Tamaraws in the semifinals of the UAAP Season 80 men’s basketball at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
With the scores tied at 80-all, Nieto strung up 5 straight point – an inside fallaway hit and a top of the key triple – to give Blue Eagles an 85-80 advantage with 46 seconds left.
Tamaraws responded with a basket from Richard Escoto to cut the deficit to 82-85 but a putback from center Isaac Go and free throws by Nieto sealed the win for Blue Eagles on Wednesday.
Nieto finished with 16 points, including three 3-point conversions, for Blue Eagles, which booked a best-of-three titular showdown with defending champion De La Salle University Green Archers.
Ilonggo Thirdy Ravena led the way with 17 points, Cameroonian center Chibueze Ikeh had double-double 16 points and 11 rebounds, while Go contributed 11 markers for Blue Eagles.
Blue Eagles had a strong start in the match behind Ikeh, Ravena and Vince Tolentino to build a 34-26 lead. Tamaraws responded with a run to come to within 33-37 but Go drilled a buzzer-beating triple to give Blue Eagles a 40-33 halftime lead.
Tamaraws turned the match to a seesaw battle in the second half and even led by as much as 67-59 on back-to-back hits by Prince Orizu. But Blue Eagles quickly erased the deficit behind Ikeh and Ravena to force an overtime on a trey by Go.
Blue Eagles went up early in the overtime period at 79-76 on back-to-back hits by Ikeh. Tamaraws rallied back to take an 80-79 lead but Blue Eagles unloaded a 9-2 scoring run behind Nieto to finish off Tamaraws.
Rookie Jasper Parker led the way with 19 points, Arvin Tolentino added 13 markers, and Wendelino Comboy and Orizu had 11 and 10 points, respectively, for Tamaraws./PN
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