Jalen Green lived up to the hype as he steered the FilAm Sports USA to a 90-67 rout of the Ateneo Blue Eaglets in the 2019 Chooks-to-Go NBTC League National Finals presented by SM on Wednesday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Green scored 31 points, including an emphatic dunk over Ateneo's 7-foot-2 star Kai Sotto. Green, who is No. 2 in the ESPN 60 recruiting rankings for the Class of 2020 out of San Joaquin Memorial in California, also finished with six rebounds, nine assists, and three steals.
FilAm Sports advanced to the Fantastic Eight stage of the tournament.
"I thought we played really well. We came out with energy. We didn't have that in the first two games," Green said.
After building a 48-33 lead at the half, the 12th-seed Fil-Am Sports broke away completely in the third quarter. Aside from Green, Kai Ballungay, Brandon Wilson, and Eli Ramos also made life difficult for the 5th-seed Ateneo. Ballungay, who also wowed the crowd with his high-leaping ability delivered 16 points, nine rebounds, and three steals, while Wilson and Ramos combined for 29 points and 16 boards.
Sotto topped for the now-eliminated Blue Eaglets with 24 points and eight rebounds.
The 6-foot-6 Green got the jump on 7-foot-2 Sotto early in the second quarter. The athletic swingman drove hard to the hoop and was met by the outstretched arms of Sotto at the rim. He cocked the ball back and delivered the vicious sledgehammer.
"We came out and actually played hard from the jump. We played defense. We held them to [67 points.] We were playing together and offense was flowing well," Green shared.
FilAm Sports shot an efficient 45 percent from the field but their defense was the difference-maker. They forced Ateneo to 28 turnovers and led by as much as 32 points.
"We're glad to have at least one [win] under our belt on Metro Manila teams," said FilAm Sports coach Bong Ulep. "We already know coming here that they're the teams to beat in the tournament so we're just glad the guys started to play together."
Joining Fil-Am Sports in the next round are FEU Baby Tamaraws, Durham Crossover Canada, NU Bullpups, Letran Squires, Top Hoop Vancouver, and La Salle Green Hills and San Beda Red Cubs.
The week-long showcase is still free of admission, with fans needing just a valid ID to enter SM Mall of Asia Arena.
The semifinals and finals, and the All-Star Game will be broadcasted live on ESPN5.com.