MANILA, Philippines -- The Ateneo Blue Eagles are now officially back in the UAAP Final Four for the ninth straight season after demolishing the Adamson Soaring Falcons, 70-48, in their UAAP Season 86 knockout clash Wednesday at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
The 22-point win is the biggest winning margin in a playoff in the UAAP.
The defending champions started the game firing on all cylinders, building an early 8-0 lead en route to the wire-to-wire victory.
While Adamson was able to cut the lead to four, 20-16, following a Didat Hanapi freebie, the Blue Eagles ran away with the lead the rest of the way.
The separation grew to as much as 25 points, 67-42, in the 4:22 mark of the final quarter off a layup by Ateneo big Kai Ballungay.
With Adamson trailing by 25 late in the game, 70-45, Jerom Lastimosa, in his final UAAP game, hit a 3-pointer to set the final score.
Lastimosa, who suffered a full ACL tear earlier in the season, played two minutes and 17 seconds in the playoff game. He made one of his four 3-point attempts Wednesday, finishing with three points and a steal.
According to Ateneo head coach Baldwin, the final score belies how difficult the game was for his Blue Eagles.
"I guess, probably on the scoreboard, you know, maybe it didn't look like a tough game in the end. But it was very tough game. It always is with Adamson," Baldwin said.
"We knew that in the third quarter particularly we were going to have to dig in, and to be somebody different than we've been. And I think that was reflected in our defense and in our rebounding and that carried over into the fourth quarter," he added.
Jared Brown stood out for the Blue Eagles with 20 points, with 14 coming in the first half. He also had four rebounds and four assists.
Sean Quitevis and Mason Amos chipped in 11 and 10 points, respectively, for the defending champions.
No Adamson player finished in double figures, as Matt Erolon only had nine points. Hanapi followed suit with eight markers.
With the win, Ateneo will be facing UP in the semis, with the latter holding a twice-to-beat advantage. They collide at 2 p.m. on Saturday, November 5.
No. 2 seed La Salle and third seed National University will dispute the other finals berth at 6 p.m., with the Green Archers enjoying the twice-to-beat bonus.