CIGNAL-Ateneo recovered from a poor start and dealt St. Clare College Virtual Reality an 88-66 rout on Tuesday in the 2019 PBA D-League at JCSGO Gym in Cubao.
Ange Kouame scored 24 points and grabbed 29 rebounds -- 15 off the offensive glass--to lead the Blue Eagles' second half onslaught.
He poured 11 of his points in a telling 31-7 barrage as Cignal-Ateneo battled back from a 46-28 deficit and grabbed a 59-53 edge with 2:02 left in the third.
The Blue Eagles never look back after that.
"(Our halftime talk was) direct to the point, that we weren't doing what we said we'll do before the game," said coach Tab Baldwin. "We didn't really make any adjustments and we just went back to basics, play like they wanted to win the game and played like any good team."
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Isaac Go collected 11 points including three 3-point shots, Thirdy Ravena added 10 points, five rebounds, and two steals, and Adrian Wong had 10 for Cignal-Ateneo.
The Blue Eagles stretched their win streak to three games and improved to 5-1 (win-lost) record, good for second place in the Aspirants Group.
St. Clare, meanwhile, suffered its first defeat in five games to fall to 4-1.
Darwin Lunor scored 12 points and 16 rebounds while Paul Santos had 12 for the Saints.
The Scores:
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CIGNAL-ATENEO 88 -- Kouame 24, Go 11, Ravena 10, Wong 10, Verano 8, Ma. Nieto 6, Mi. Nieto 5, Navarro 4, Tio 3, Belangel 3, Credo 2, Daves 2, Andrade 0, Mamuyac 0, Berjay 0.
ST. CLARE 66 -- Lunor 12, Santos 12, Hallare 11, Fontanilla 10, Pare 9, Rivera 8, Palencia 4, Ambuludto 0, Fuentes 0, Manacho 0, De Leon 0.
Quarters: 16-16, 28-44, 65-55, 88-66.
