Breaking Down the Ateneo-UST game

Breaking down the Ateneo-UST game

Field Goal Percentage
Ateneo 49.2%
UST 33.3%

Rebounds
Ateneo 43 total 12 offensive
UST 41 total 18 offensive

Assists
Ateneo 16
UST 12

Steals
Ateneo 8
UST 6

Blocks
Ateneo 5
UST 2

Turnovers
Ateneo 15
UST 14

Fastbreak Points
Ateneo 12
UST 10

What won the match for Ateneo aside from the usual stats match-up and defense?

* The bench – The bench mob that included Emman Monfort, Ryan Buenafe, and Nico Salva turned the tide of the match with their all-around brilliance. Buenafe scored 9 points at the close of the first quarter to give Ateneo a 30-21 lead.

* Then Monfort drilled in three triples in the second period to continue the onslaught that UST had no answer for.

*The Blue Eagles shot a blistering 61.3% in the first 20 minutes of action. They hit 6 of 12 triples while UST only hit 5 of 15. They also showcased their vaunted passing game as they dished for 12 assists to UST’s mere 4.

In truth, there’s not much passing to go around when a team keeps chucking up those three-pointers.

By the time Eric Salamat and Rabeh Al-Hussaini returned, it was more trouble for the overmatched Tigers.

Having Nonoy Baclao chase Dylan Ababou around didn’t seem to work. The UST forward took 9 shots in his first match against Adamson, 25 against NU and 19 versus Ateneo. Removing Nonoy from the middle opened a hole in the Ateneo defense. And they hauled down 18 offensive rebounds. That’s 6 more than Ateneo. In Ateneo’s three games so far, we’ve been outrebounded twice and lost all three times in the offensive category.

Teams will surely exploit this next time around.