Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
Vince Tolentino came to Ateneo right after the Blue Eagles completed a rare five-peat.
And it took Tolentino five years to get his first and lone championship with the Blue Eagles, who promised him he would leave Ateneo with the golden laurel of the UAAP Season 80 men’s basketball tournament.
“For me, going into my last year, the championship was the only thing on my mind,” said Tolentino Sunday at Mall of Asia Arena after Ateneo won the title in a thrilling Game 3, dethroning De La Salle 88-86.
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“I wanted a championship, and these boys promised me a championship. Since Day 1 we always talked about it, we were going to get it.”
Tolentino, who shares the captaincy with Mike Nieto, was never Ateneo’s main focal point on offense but was an integral part of the starting lineup playing as the Blue Eagles’ hustling power forward.
The graduating Blue Eagle used that tenacity and grit to average 6.7 points and 6.3 rebounds in the championship round where he showed his versatility on the defensive end.
And Tolentino credited the team’s championship run to the guidance head coach Tab Baldwin provided the team.
“I’ve never had a coach like coach Tab,” said Tolentino. “The attention to detail, his mind is just full of basketball knowledge, and for us young players, it’s so important for us to develop at a young age and Coach Tab has done that.”