In tale of 2 Ateneos, 3-quarter effort enough to hold off rival la Salle
There were three quarters where Ateneo looked every inch the hoop monster it is becoming in the UAAP Season 88 men’s basketball tournament.
And then, with 17,185 fans as witness, there was the fourth quarter.
“We have a choice to talk about three quarters of basketball or one quarter of basketball and we’ll do both,” coach Tab Baldwin said after the Blue Eagles shocked rival La Salle, 81-74, on Sunday at Mall of Asia Arena.
“The way we played for the first three quarters is about as good as an Ateneo team can play,” he added.
That featured a strong start, a relentlessness on both ends of the floor and leads that went beyond 30.
It looked like a one-sided masterclass from Ateneo, which looked like it would cruise trouble-free to an unstained record for the season.
“Then in the fourth quarter, we played about as badly as an Ateneo team has played,” Baldwin said.
“Fortunately, it’s only one quarter.”
Ateneo led, 64-33, in the third quarter but La Salle started the fourth with 19 unanswered points to get into the game. Luckily, the Blue Eagles found enough gas to hold off the Archers.
“If you took notes then you saw the ball move quickly after that [run] but we still were a bit shell shocked with the tenacity and ferocity of their comeback,” Baldwin said.
Dom Escobar, who got Ateneo off to a hot start, Shawn Tuaño, who hit clutch baskets late, and Kymani Ladi finished with 15 points each as the Blue Eagles upped their record to 4-0 (win-loss).
La Salle dropped to 2-2 for the season despite the efforts of Mike Phillips, who finished with a monster double-double of 17 points and 20 rebounds.
FEU triumphs
Meanwhile, Far Eastern University (FEU) won its first game of the season with a 64-58 victory over Adamson in the earlier game.
But Sean Chambers couldn’t help but keep track of how much better their record should be after four games.
“I say this humbly and respectfully. We felt we let one get away against Ateneo. We felt we had a moment against [National University] and for sure, we had our moments against La Salle,” the FEU coach said.
