UST TELETIGER Eryx delos Reyes secured a podium finish after a teammate versus teammate duel in the first-ever UAAP Season 87 esports NBA2K tournament on Thursday, Aug. 15.
Delos Reyes bagged the third place after downing teammate Daemiel Argame via sweep, 2-0, at Areté, Ateneo de Manila University.
Despite topping both A and B pools in the playoffs, both UST TGR players bowed out in the semifinals.
Delos Reyes fell to DLSU Viridis Arcus Esports’ Kegan Yap in three games, 65-53, 83-72, 88-67, while Argame succumbed to the Ateneo Blue Eagles’ Paolo Medina in a sweep, 96-92, 119-81.
The first battle for bronze saw delos Reyes command the Milwaukee Bucks to go up by 11 points in the first half against Argame’s Boston Celtics, 40-29.
Argame tried to catch up by cutting the deficit to five, 68-63. But it was already too late to overcome as delos Reyes put the finishing touches, 72-63, to lead the best-of-three series.
It was a neck and neck first half in the second game with Argame getting his rhythm with the Los Angeles Lakers to counter the Celtics of delos Reyes, 37-all.
But things took a turn after the latter started to take over and pulled away in the second half with a 14-point cushion to complete the sweep, 71-57.
“[W]e just had fun but the eagerness to win is still there… We’re both happy whatever the result is,” computer science sophomore delos Reyes told The Flame.
The emotional third placer dedicated the win to his family, “To my loved ones po [e]specially my family po, and my brother who taught me how to play 2K po, I wish he is proud in heaven po. And to my girlfriend and my bestfriend po who come to watch me at the venue, I’m so thankful for them.”
Ateneo’s Medina took home the first-ever NBA2K crown after defeating DLSU’s Yap, 2-1. F – with reports from Christian Querol
Editor’s note: This article has been edited to include the NBA2K tournament’s podium finishers.
