For the young and new-look Ateneo Blue Eagles, winning against the league-leading UP Fighting Maroons to end the UAAP Season 86 Men’s Basketball first round meant a lot.
An up-and-down first round placed the defending champions at 4-3, with losses to Adamson University, Far Eastern University, and National University.
But for a team that “will be characterized more by growth than experience,” the Blue Eagles grew a little bit faster with a nail-biting 99-89 overtime win over the previously undefeated Fighting Maroons in a blue-and-maroon-filled SM Mall of Asia Arena on Sunday evening.
“It just feels good to win. We’ve been on the losing end three times this year, and that doesn’t feel good,” said Ateneo head coach Tab Baldwin after the intense matchup between the modern-day rivals.
“We can’t belittle the fact that we beat a team that’s 6-0; I’ve been in that position before,” he continued, having led the Blue Eagles to two 13-1 seasons and one 14-0 sweep.
However, Baldwin warned that this should not be a one-night showing for his wards in blue. It should be a case of routine and repetition in order to reach a level where they can replicate the performances of the former Blue Eagle champions that came before them.
This victory against UP marked the first winning streak for Ateneo this season after also defeating the University of Santo Tomas last Wednesday.
“It is a very, very good win for our program, but you have to keep things in the context of the entire season, and it becomes meaningless if we don’t play good basketball and follow this up and keep improving as a team,” said the decorated tactician.
“This is a great sign for the development of our team, but we have seven games to go. Until we start showing consistency over more than just a couple of games, nobody should rest, nobody should feel comfortable.”
Being a significant factor in this win for Ateneo, Nigerian center Joseph Obasa downplayed his role despite getting 13 points, eight rebounds, and five blocks while fighting foul trouble throughout the entire match.
He also noted that while this helps in the growth and maturity of the team that has nine rookies, the more important learning came from their tough defeats.
Obasa particularly mentioned their losses to the Soaring Falcons and the Tamaraws, both of which came in overtime.
“Honestly, the real lessons came in the ones we didn’t expect to lose, in my opinion. We went to overtime with Adamson and FEU, and those were games where we should have shown more mental toughness and togetherness and won,” said the one-and-done Obasa.
“It’s easy to get prepared for the big ones, but the real lessons that we learn are the ones we weren’t really expecting to lose.”
There will be little time to rejoice as the second round of the basketball tournament kicks off on Wednesday at the same Pasay venue, with Ateneo aiming for three in a row when they face FEU.
And come Sunday, the Battle of Katipunan reignites just a week after the Blue Eagles’ biggest win of the season so far.
