Ateneo’s unbeaten run has come to an end.
Down go the Ateneo Blue Eagles.
After an unbeaten start to UAAP Season 88, the Eagles had their wings clipped by an on-point UP Fighting Maroons squad, 69-83, in the Battle of Katipunan on Wednesday, October 9, at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.
Ateneo head coach Tab Baldwin tipped his hat to State U after the game, lauding their championship composure and execution throughout the rivalry game.
“I think you just gotta give a lot of credit to UP. Their preparation was really, really good; their composure was very, very good. We were being competitive in the first half, and I thought we didn’t play well, but I thought we gave them some problems in the first half,” Baldwin said post-game. “I thought they gave us lots of problems in the first half in terms of looking like a well-oiled machine.”
The Eagles were unable to contain a third-quarter surge from the Fighting Maroons, who outscored them 24-11 to build a commanding 64-49 advantage entering the final period. From here, Ateneo was unable to recover as UP continued to pull away en route to their statement win.
“They came out in the third quarter, and obviously, they sort of doubled down their preparations, I think. And they looked super cohesive; they knew where they were going with the basketball. The second quarter was obviously the Harold Alarcon show and from that point on, in the third quarter, their whole team just performed extremely well,” Baldwin reflected as he recalled Alarcon’s 13-point outing in the second period.
Francis Nnoruka asserted his dominance over Ateneo’s frontline with a career-high 28 points, nine rebounds, four steals, and one rejection, while Rey Remogat continued to find his groove with 20 points and seven assists.
Shawn Tuano, meanwhile, led the Eagles with 17 points, followed by Kymani Ladi with 15 markers and seven rebounds despite being in foul trouble.
“[UP] played disciplined, they created good shots, and Francis was a real energy guy out there. He played one hell of a game, and Rey shot the ball far too well for what we should have allowed him,” Baldwin lamented.
“So we paid the price for that, and then in our offensive end, we just didn’t have the energy and the discipline to stick to what the game plan was. Composure wasn’t great, so the scoreline reflects those things, and it’s a pretty fair indication of what game we played.”
Mental toughness
If there is anything that Baldwin wants Ateneo to learn from this game, it would be the need to sharpen their mental toughness. Aside from their pinpoint execution, State U also brought their trademark doggedness in Wednesday’s game, which was too much for the Blue Eagles to handle.
Tensions also flared late into the game, with the soft-spoken Ladi losing his composure at UP’s Miguel Yñiguez after a heated boxout in the final period. Both players ended up receiving technical fouls following the incident.
“I think we’re a much better team when we play to a script and follow the game plan. And I think this team has the intelligence and the maturity to do that, and I think we lost our way on that point tonight. Hopefully, it’s the most important thing we take out of this tonight,” Baldwin said.
If anything, this is why Baldwin was first to defend UP’s physicality throughout the game, stressing that it has been a key part of their winning culture under head coach Goldwin Monteverde.
In particular, Baldwin believes that an unsportsmanlike foul by Remogat in the final seconds came with no malice and was merely an attempt to stop a fastbreak.
“I just think they’re highly competitive, and I applaud that. I applaud toughness, and I ask our guys to be dogs all the time, and in UP, the coaching staff probably doesn’t have to ask about that very much because that’s what those guys are, and I admire that about them,” he said.
“And I think we live in a world today where people overreact to toughness. I mean, get the hell out of sports if you’re not gonna be tough, and if you’re gonna cry about things all the time, then you’re not gonna be on the winning side very much.”
Banner images courtesy of the UAAP Media Bureau.