Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
After steering Ateneo to a rousing 76-70 win over La Salle in a rough-and-tumble Game 1 in the UAAP Season 80 men’s basketball Finals on Saturday, Blue Eagles coach Tab Baldwin doesn’t expect the physicality to get any less intense in Game 2.
“We anticipated that. You get that all the time with La Salle. La Salle won’t be any different on Wednesday. It would be silly to think otherwise because that’s their M.O. and they’re good at it. They push the rules to the limit and they push the referees to the limit,” Baldwin said.
READ: Ateneo holds on, beats La Salle in Game 1 of UAAP Finals
Emotions poured into the court as the fierce rivals engaged in a highly-physical affair that even saw Matt Nieto incur a cut above his left eye after receiving an inadvertent elbow from Ben Mbala late in the first half.
READ: Matt Nieto bloodied after collision with Ben Mbala
The numbers also showed just how intense the game was as both teams were called for a combined 47 fouls.
Baldwin admitted the fouls affected Blue Eagles’ offensive rhythm.
“We had a hard time. I don’t think we played fluid at all. I thought it was kind of a scrappy game and I guess in the cauldron of this whole atmosphere, that can be expected from young players, but generally, we don’t perform that well when it’s a scrappy kind of game,” he said.
Ateneo, though, also benefitted from the foul-plagued game with La Salle’s Ben Mbala saddled by foul trouble and was limited to a season-low eight points.
“I thought it was telling that Mbala and (Abu) Tratter played 57 minutes in this game and had eight fouls. (Chibueze) Ikeh and George (Go) played 38 minutes and had nine fouls, and we consider that a victory somehow. That’s crazy to think of that as some kind of victory, but when you play La Salle, it is,” he said.
Baldwin liked what saw in terms of his players’ resolve is concerned but he made it clear that Ateneo shouldn’t rest on its laurels, especially with a chance to win the title on Wednesday.
“I thought our fight, our tenacity, and our character were evident today and I think those are big factors,” he said. “But I don’t expect we’ll have to think any differently [of La Salle] going to Wednesday’s game. It’s the second battle of a long war.”