An opening weekend loss wasn’t enough to douse the fire that lives within the hearts of champions.
Ateneo made sure it didn’t lose two straight in the UAAP Season 81 men’s basketball tournament after a wake-up call that came as early as its first game.
Guard Matt Nieto said their 74-70 loss to Adamson on Sunday really riled up the Blue Eagles, who vented their ire on University of the Philippines.
“That loss really lit us up,” said Matt Nieto in Filipino after their 87-79 win over the Fighting Maroons Wednesday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
“There’s no chance that we will allow ourselves to lose two straight games and we really learned after we lost to Adamson.”
The Blue Eagles were seen to be an unbeatable even before the season started, especially after their showing in the 2018 Jones Cup where they finished fourth against club and national team players from other countries.
Nieto, one of the leaders of the team, said the Adamson setback exposed their flaws early.
“When we saw the tapes we knew that the guys who played against Adamson weren’t the Ateneo Blue Eagles,” said Nieto who had 12 points and four assists against the Fighting Maroons. “We were surprised with what we saw because that’s not how we play.”