UAAP: Mason Amos, Kent Pastrana help their teams regain winning ways.

After shaky starts in the UAAP Season 86 basketball tournaments, the Ateneo Blue Eagles and University of Santo Tomas Tigresses found their winning forms to cap their first-round battles on a high note - thanks to Mason Amos and Kent Pastrana, respectively.

Amos delivered stellar performances in his last two games to tow the Blue Eagles to their first back-to-back wins this season while Pastrana anchored the Tigresses for a 2-0 record the past week as both were named UAAP Players of the Week.

Amos, the rookie ace and a gold medalist for Gilas Pilipinas in the Cambodia Southeast Asian Games, came up big with 19 points on 6-of-10 shooting and 10 rebounds to lift the defending champions over the erstwhile undefeated University of the Philippines in overtime, 99-89, on Sunday.

It was Amos' personal 5-0 spurt that broke the 85-all deadlock with 2:14 left to play in the extra period. He also nailed another basket that finally put away the Fighting Maroons.

Blue Eagles head coach Tab Baldwin acknowledged the big shots made by his players in overtime, especially the Fil-Australian Amos, noting that it was the only way to win big games such as versus the Fighting Maroons.

But Amos downplayed his numbers, crediting their victory to all his teammates and their impressive defense in an anticipated finals rematch. Ateneo and UP took turns ruling the UAAP the last two seasons.

'Honestly, it was a team effort. If we didn't have all our guys stepping up today, I don't think we'd get the job done, so props to the team...We really played defense until the final buzzer and we went to OT. So, it was an up-and-down...