MANILA, Philippines -- (UPDATED) The Ateneo Blue Eagles stayed within striking distance of the league leaders after a 72-55 victory over the University of Santo Tomas on Thursday evening, Araneta Coliseum.

The Blue Eagles recovered from a slow start and took complete control through a massive third quarter to hand the Growling Tigers their ninth consecutive loss of UAAP Season 85.

Ateneo improved to 7-3 in the tournament, half a game behind National University for the second spot. UST, meanwhile, slid to 1-9 and is on the brink of elimination from the race to the Final 4.

BJ Andrade and Ange Kouame each scored 14 points for the Blue Eagles, with the reigning Most Valuable Player adding seven rebounds and three blocks to his stat line.

"We're pretty happy with the result, obviously. Not just the win, but apart from the 2nd quarter, I thought we were pretty cohesive in the game," Ateneo coach Tab Baldwin said. "Players knew what they were doing out there."

Ateneo trailed 3-10 early before unleashing a 21-0 run that put them ahead for good. They settled for a 35-27 lead at the break after giving up some late baskets to UST center Adama Faye and Nic Cabanero.

But the Blue Eagles came out of the break with guns blazing: they scored 10 unanswered points to open the third period and limited UST to just 10 points throughout the period. The Growling Tigers shot just 18% in the frame, and wound up trailing 62-37 entering the final quarter.

A late scoring flurry by Cabanero allowed UST to trim the deficit to 12 points, 64-52, with 3:26 left but they had dug themselves into too deep of a hole. Buckets by JC Fetalvero and Kouame allowed Ateneo to pull away again, with Kouame restoring a 20-point advantage with under two minutes left, 72-52.

"As a coach, I'm happy when the team gets good shots, when they construct good shots. I think we did that. Just happy to get the win," said Baldwin.

Cabanero carried UST's offense with 26 points on 10-of-22 shooting, but Faye was the only other Tiger in double-digits with 10 points and 11 rebounds.

Another loss will eliminate the Growling Tigers from Final 4 contention.

The Scores:

ATENEO 72 -- Andrade 14, Kouame 14, Padrigao 10, Koon 9, Ildefonso 5, Garcia 5, Chiu 4, Lazaro 3, Fetalvero 3, Fornilos 3, Ballungay 2, Quitevis 0, Daves 0, Lao 0, Ong 0.

UST 55 -- Cabanero 26, Faye 10, Manalang 6, Pangilinan 6, Duremdes 5, Manaytay 2, Calimag 0, Laure 0, Mantua 0, Gesalem 0, Herrera 0.

Quarters: 22-10, 35-27, 62-37, 72-55.