Tyler Tio was the man of the hour for Ateneo De Manila University after firing 17 points in the third quarter to lift his team over Far Eastern University en route to a 79-70 victory on Tuesday afternoon at SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
The 23-year-old playmaker out of Xavier School admitted that he struggled in their offseason preparations as well as in their opening game against UP where he was limited to five points, two assists, and a steal in almost 18 minutes of action.
Nonetheless, the trust that his teammates have instilled in him eventually enabled him to be more confident in making the plays that he normally does.
“I guess I was just lucky that my shots finally went in and just thankful for my teammates because they believed in me even though I struggled in the past, during the first game and our tune-up games,” the four-year Blue Eagle claimed.
“They still kept telling me to just keep shooting your shot and thankfully, today it went in.”
Tio also had a tough assignment in their second game as he went up against FEU rookie RJ Abarrientos for the most part of the contest.
He bared that he was challenged by his individual matchup but the Blue Eagles knew that they also had to pay attention to the other Tamaraw guards who can make an impact for Olsen Racela’s squad.
“I wouldn’t say it challenged me to find my shot but there was definitely a challenge because everyone knows what RJ can do so the guards especially knew that we need to step up our game against him,” he stressed.
“Not just him, also L-Jay [Gonzales] and Royce [Alforque], we knew that they were gonna be tough challenges for us so we just wanted to step up, most especially defensively. On offense, we just had to run the system and whoever gets the shots then so be it.”
Tio ended the game with 17 points on 4-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc to go with two rebounds, an assist, and a steal in 14 minutes of action.
Dave Ildefonso, who also scored 17 markers against FEU, acknowledged the valuable contributions that Tio had in the game. He also expressed his confidence in his veteran teammate to sustain his momentum in their upcoming games moving forward.
“We had a lot of good things in the third quarter going for us, especially with Tyler. It’s great to have him contribute like that, especially during that great run that they had in the third quarter. I think that this is only the beginning for Tyler and he’s been working hard, especially in the offseason and the other games.” Ildefonso said.
“Tyler’s gonna be much better from now on.”
After getting their second straight win, the Blue Eagles (2-0) will aim to preserve their unblemished record when they take on Adamson University on Thursday, 10:00 AM at SM Mall of Asia Arena.
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