Adili shines as Blue Eagles escape Red Warriors to snap losing streak

Ateneo’s Divine Adili (14) powers one in over the defense of the UE Red Warriors during their UAAP Season 88 men’s basketball tournament Wednesday at the MOA Arena in Pasay City.

(UAAP Media Bureau)

MANILA, Philippines — Divine Adili scored 10 points in the fourth quarter to tow Ateneo to a crucial win over the still-winless University of the East Red Warriors, 78-74, in their UAAP Season 88 men’s basketball matchup Wednesday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

The center, who missed the Blue Eagles’ three previous games, finished with 15 points and 13 rebounds, to go with two assists, two steals and a block.

Adili’s huge fourth quarter helped the Blue Eagles snap their five-game losing streak, as their win-loss record rose to 5-5.

UE was also thus booted out of the UAAP Season 88 Final Four race with a 0-10 win-loss record. It is also the university’s 16th straight loss in the UAAP, extending to last season.

“Divine, having him back, I don't think we can overemphasize how important that is. We've been a team that if you study the stats at all, we've been a team that's really struggled around the basket this year… Our defensive rebounding percentage has been hovering around 60%. Today it was 72%, which is a massive improvement. Our offensive rebounding percentage has been hovering around 25%. Today it's up at 35%,” Ateneo head coach Tab Baldwin said.

“And it's pretty evident that when Divine is out there, it changes the dynamics for the team. And I think we got more out of him today than we expected. 25 minutes is a big effort coming from where he's come from,” he added.

The Red Warriors held an 11-point lead in the third quarter, 63-52, up significantly from their 40-39 halftime.

UE still had a nine point advantage, 67-58, in the fourth, before Adili had six straight points to make it a one point game, 64-67, with 6:58 remaining.

The returning Wello Lingolingo then sank a 3-pointer to snap the run, but an 8-1 run capped by an Adili deuce pushed Ateneo ahead, 72-71.

An and-one play by John Abate gave the Red Warriors the lead anew, 74-72, before free throws by Ian Espinosa and Adili towed them to the lead for good.

After a split from the line by Adili with 31.6 seconds left gave UE an opportunity to tie or get the lead, a Lingolingo triple missed, which ultimately resulted in the game-icing free throws of Espinosa.

Kymani Ladi powered Ateneo with 16 points, nine rebounds and an assist. Espinosa chipped in 13 markers, while Dom Escobar had 11 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Precious Momowei and Lingolingo paced the Red Warriors with 19 markers apiece. The former had 18 boards and four dimes, along with two swats and a steal, while the latter had five rebounds and four assists. Abate produced 18, six and four.

“As happy as we are with the win, we're not very happy with our defense, especially the way we started the game defensively. Giving up 60 points in the first three quarters, it doesn't speak very highly of our motivation and our defensive intensity. But we kind of reversed the trend in the fourth quarter,” Baldwin said.

“We haven't been a good fourth quarter team. And today our defense stood up in the fourth quarter and the offense came in behind it. So, you know, we managed to get a win that we desperately needed. But we're going to need to be better going forward. But, you know, very happy with where we're at right now.”