Blue Eagles banking on win vs Maroons to turn things around

MANILA, Philippines - The Ateneo Blue Eagles hope to carry their massive 99-89 win over rival UP into the second round of the UAAP Season 86 basketball tournament, as they aim to “turn the corner.”

Ateneo head coach Tab Baldwin told reporters after the game that they want to carry the momentum off their first back-to-back wins to the most crucial stretch of the tourney.

“This game really… because our season is where it’s at, at 4-3, this game really means nothing if we don’t back it up. Every one of you won’t recall this. You won’t think about this, but this is the first time we won back-to-back this season,” Baldwin said.

“If we can’t do more of that, then this will just be a moment, instead of maybe turning the corner this season. And, we need to turn the corner,” he added.

Ateneo is currently in third place with a 4-3 win-loss record, tied with La Salle.

They are behind UP and NU, which both hold 6-1 records.

Ateneo looked primed to beat UP in regulation, leading by 10, 78-68, with more than seven minutes left.

But they lost the momentum and saw their lead crumble as the Fighting Maroons brought the game to overtime.

However, the defending champions were able to keep their composure to deal UP its first loss.

“I think the guys said that it’s a tough league this year... This is our third overtime so I don’t wanna say that somebody was gonna get them. But this was gonna be a real tough season to get through clean,” Baldwin said.

“We’re happy that we’re the ones that knocked them off. But they did an awesome job getting to 6-0 with the league as tough as it is this year. So the job now for everybody is how well you’re gonna get through the second round,” he added.

With the win, Baldwin reiterated that UP is still the team to beat in the season.

“We got by in overtime today. If we played them tomorrow, we’re still underdogs. Sure, there’s a level of belief that comes with having gotten past them once, but they could knock that out of you faster than you can imagine,” the coach said.

“If we play them again, we just gotta play them possession by possession and we gotta respect them as I’m sure we would. We gotta prepare really, really hard.”