MANILA – Defending champion Ateneo de Manila University kicked off its title-retention bid with a 2-1 win over De La Salle University Tuesday night in the UAAP Esports NBA 2K tournament at the Quantum Skyview Deck, Gateway 2 Mall in Quezon City.

The Blue Eagles claimed the victory after Paolo Medina's Boston Celtics defeated Keagan Yap's Oklahoma City Thunder, 71-64, in Game 3 of the best-of-three series.

The Thunder rallied from 32-43 to tie the score at 50-all heading into the fourth quarter. But the Celtics outscored them, 21-14, to prevail.

“Well, I was confident before the game because the preparation we did, we prepared for La Salle because we knew they were still the opponent this year,” said Blue Eagles head coach Nite Alparas.

“The match is pretty intense, because we're really preparing for both teams, OKC and Boston. So we're also prepared that if there ever is a Game 3, Paolo has to go to Boston, we'll do it," added the eGilas program director.

Earlier, Adamson University defeated National University, 2-1.

Joaquin Obado's Boston Celtics beat Dominic Peñaflorida’s OKC Thunder, 55-50, in Game 1.

NU made it 1-1 after Jarrel Allaga, also using the Celtics, clobbered Joshua Advincula’s Thunder, 57-39, in Game 2.

Obado and Peñaflorida met again in Game 3, with the Celtics pulling off an 83-80 overtime win.

“Honestly, due to time constraints, we weren’t able to have proper practices, and because of budget issues, we didn’t have a proper coach. Of course, there were performances with some lapses, but they played well today — I honestly didn’t expect the series to turn out like this," said Adamson head coach Matthew Galang.

Meanwhile, University of the Philippines and University of Santo Tomas swept their respective groups to take the No. 1 spot with three points each.

UP's Harvey Buban won Game 1 (45-40) and Isaac Javier triumphed in Game 2 (69-55) over their rivals from Far Eastern University.

UST conquered University of the East courtesy of Daemiel Argame (69-48) and Daniel Delos Reyes (70-42). (PNA)