DOWN on its knees, perennial title favorite Ateneo will end the year not contending for the title—and will even miss the Final Four for the first time since 2013.
But the proud Blue Eagles will not go out without a big fight in their remaining games.
“There is more than just pride to play for. There’s the uniform that we wear and try to live up to the standards expected of us by our community, by our teammates, and by ourselves,” Ateneo coach Tab Baldwin said.
“I was just very happy with the team because they played with so much effort and resolve,” he added.
Baldwin spoke after his wards trounced the University of the East Red Warriors 71-67 last Wednesday night in the 87th UAAP basketball tournament.
The win hiked the Katipunan-based five’s slate to 4-9 in its first game since getting eliminated in the semis race.
The Red Warriors saw their bid to reach the Last Four for the first time since 2009 derailed anew with a fourth straight loss.
UE fell to 6-7, now tied with the University of Santo Tomas for third. The Growling Tigers hold the tiebreaker advantage due to the win over the other rule.
Andrew Bongo showed the way for Ateneo with 15 points and six rebounds while Shawn Tuano had 13 markers, four boards, and two steals.
Chris Koon added 12 and 10, while Joshua Lazaro also had a double-double of 11 points and 12 caroms.
Baldwin, whose team will wind up its season against Adamson University on Nov. 23, said the Eagles are aching to bow out with a bang.
“When you haven’t been able to gel as well as we would like to as a team throughout the year, it really comes down to effort and I think the guys spoke as a team, and with a lot of people saying it’s a lost season or a failure, they don’t feel that way,” Baldwin said. “They feel for them that every game is important, and we didn’t want to disrespect our opponent by saying that this game doesn’t matter to us.
“It mattered a lot to us, and you can’t really talk about beautiful execution and a lot of things, but we had a game plan to try and push the tempo.”
The mighty have fallen but only with this kind of a campaign Ateneo will certainly rise, if not in the next cage wars, but in the coming seasons—with or without Baldwin.
