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[av_heading heading=’Ateneo cagers trump NU to move closer to UAAP semis ‘ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
By ADRIAN STEWART CO
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MANILA – The Ateneo Blue Eagles strengthened its hold on the third spot in the UAAP Season 79 men’s seniors basketball tournament with a 65-50 victory over the National University Bulldogs on Sunday night at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.
Rookie Raffy Verano led the way with a career-high 20 points, including three 3 -point baskets, for the Blue Eagles, which moved closer to a Final Four seat with its 6-4 win-loss slate.
Fellow rookie Isaac Go added nine markers, while Aaron Black contributed seven points for the Blue Eagles, which has registered its second straight win after opening the second round with back-to-back losses.
“Coming into this game, we knew that we’re up against an NU team that might be a little desperate and we know that NU’s system, especially defensively, is really very tough,” said Blue Eagles head coach Sandy Arespacochaga.
“Well I think we’ve seen glimpses of Raffy in some of the other games,” he added. “He’s a sparkplug for us off the bench. He plays well defensively but not only that he proved today that he can also score.”
From a tight opening quarter, with the Blue Eagles slightly ahead at 11-8, Ateneo went on a strong surge in the second frame, highlighted by the 11 points of Verano, to build a halftime 34-17 lead.
The Blue Eagles continued its hot shooting in the second half to build its largest lead of the match at 61-40 following a triple by Verano. The Bulldogs tried to come close in the fourth frame but the Blue Eagles managed to up its lead to 15.
Rodolfo Alejandro top-scored with 13 points, while Cameroonian import Alfred Aroga added eight markers for the Bulldogs, which suffered its fifth straight defeat to slide down to a 4-7 slate./PN
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