Tab Baldwin has always been a man who says things the way it is, and he was at it again after Ateneo’s tough 63-60 loss to Far Eastern University Wednesday at Mall of Asia Arena.
Ateneo’s frank head coach said the Blue Eagles’ failed to get through the Tamaraws’ defense and as a result failed to get the buckets needed for the win.
But Baldwin still had room for praise and said their loss wasn’t for the lack of trying.
“FEU played great defense, played a better game than us, our offense was really lacking but certainly the effort was there,” said Baldwin as his team dropped to 4-2 and shared the second spot with the Tamaraws.
“We feel good about the effort, we just didn’t make shots.”
Ateneo shot the ball on a 22-of-74 clip, taking 23 more attempts than FEU, thanks to its 19 offensive rebounds.
The Blue Eagles also forced the Tamaraws to 27 turnovers, but again they just couldn’t make the shots.
“They have one of the best defenses in the UAAP and today their defense was the winner and we’re the loser.”
The absence of the injured Matt Nieto and the fouled out Thirdy Ravena also didn’t help the Blue Eagles’ cause especially in the end-game where their comeback fell short.
FEU held a 56-49 lead when Ravena got ejected after absorbing his fifth foul with 3:02 left but the Blue Eagles trimmed the margin to as little as three after Mike Nieto’s layup with 1:04 left.
The Blue Eagles had a chance at the buzzer to send the game to overtime but Adrian Wong’s triple bounced off.
“We believe in our depth, tonight we just weren’t good enough,” said Baldwin. “We just didn’t hit the shots. What do you want in life? You want opportunities, we had ample opportunities, we just couldn’t get it done.”