For the first time in four years, a team took down mighty Ateneo and halted the defending champion’s phenomenal 39-game winning streak.
The UP Fighting Maroons slayed the Blue Eagles in a cardiac 84-83 finish on the last day of the UAAP men’s basketball eliminations at the Mall of Asia Arena on Sunday, May 1.
Ricci Rivero and Malick Diouf came through at crunch time as the Maroons completed the huge upset that spoiled Ateneo’s bid to complete a 14-0 sweep and claim an outright finals berth.
After going down by as many as 18 points early in the second quarter, Ateneo rallied all the way back to snatch a 53-52 lead at the 7:26 mark of the third off an SJ Belangel layup.
It was a cardiac affair from then on as both teams traded leads before a beautiful Belangel mid-range step-back shot gave Ateneo an 81-77 lead with 4:19 left in regulation.
After a few low-scoring minutes, James Spencer then sent the UP crowd into a frenzy with a go-ahead three, before Dave Ildefonso answered right back with a clutch putback layup for the 83-82 lead with 32.4 ticks left.
However, Rivero got fouled at the 22.2-second mark, and sank two heart-stopping free throws for an 84-83 UP lead.
Off the timeout, Belangel got one more shot off, but his attempt missed as Diouf grabbed the board to hold on for the all-time win.
