Goodluck Okebata rose to the occasion as defending champion University of the East outlasted Ateneo, 87-77, to notch its first win in the UAAP Season 88 Junior High School Basketball Tournament on Wednesday morning at the UST Quadricentennial Pavilion Arena in Manila.
The 6-foot-3 Fil-Nigerian, who hails from Iloilo and the lone holdover from last season’s champion squad, delivered a dominant double-double of 24 points and 18 rebounds, along with three blocks and two assists, to fend off the Blue Eagles and counter Sky Jazul’s 28-point outburst.
The win enabled the Juniors Warriors to soothe the pain of their opening game defeat to the NU-Nazareth School Bullpup.
Meanwhile, Adamson University cruised to an 85-50 rout of University of the Philippines Integrated School to grab the early lead in the competition.
Coming off a dominant win against the De La Salle Zobel Junior Archers last Saturday, the Baby Falcons quickly raced to a 44-20 halftime lead and never looked back, handing the Fighting Maroons their second straight defeat.
“Nag-adjust lang din kami coming into this game kasi na-overwhelm kami sa NUNS game. Sabi ko nga sa boys, yung character natin, malalaman yan based sa adjustment sa next game. Buti na lang the boys showed up, especially in the fourth quarter where we adjusted sa game plan ng Ateneo,” said Matthew Sia after securing his first victory as UE’s new head coach.
With the game tied at 73-all and under six minutes to play, UE turned up the pressure.
A Sean Felizmenia triple, back-to-back baskets from Okebata and Austin Delos Santos, and a corner jumper from Felizmenia sparked a decisive 9-0 run that gave the Junior Warriors an 82-73 cushion with 3:03 left.
Ateneo tried to stay alive with consecutive layups from Stef Bernarte and Francis Castro, but Mark Perdigon buried the dagger triple with 31 seconds remaining to seal UE’s bounce-back triumph.
Despite his 28-point, nine-rebound, three-steal, and two-assist effort, Jazul was limited to just five points on 2-of-9 shooting in the fourth quarter. Bernarte supported him with 14 points and five rebounds.
Cebuano guard Fran Flores led the Baby Falcons with 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting, adding five steals, four assists, three rebounds, and one block.
For UP, John Addatu kept fighting with 16 points, six rebounds, six steals, and three assists, while Kean Poquiz, despite being limited to 11 points on 2-of-18 shooting with seven turnovers, still managed four rebounds and three steals.
The scores:
First Game (16U)
UE 87 – Okebata 24, Perdigon 14, Felizmenia 13, Mesa 12, Mallabo 12, Delos Santos 9, Aguilar 2, Mercado 1, Ancheta 0, Pontipedra 0, Roxas 0.
Ateneo 77 – Jazul 28, Bernarte 14, Castro 8, Divinagracia 8, Dela Rosa 7, Ngo 5, Ylen 2, Hwang 2, David 2, G. Yoro 1, M. Yoro 0.
Quarters: 16-20, 42-45, 63-66, 87-77
Second Game (16U)
AdU 85 – Flores 17, Iledan 13, Del Monte 11, E. Jordan 10, A. Jordan 9, Padrejuan 6, Esma 4, Maycong 4, Vargas 3, Vengco 3, Abas 3, Adrade 2, Pleyto 0, Mangahas 0, Caintic 0.
UPIS 50 – Addatu 16, Poquiz 11, Manguerra 11, Labao 8, Lugatiman 4, Floriendo 0, Rosete 0, Okebata 0, Baldovino 0.
Quarters: 26-12, 44-20, 65-37, 85-50.
