Despite loss, Racela likes how FEU made Ateneo work for its shots

MANILA, Philippines—Olsen Racela isn’t someone to focus on just one aspect of Far Eastern University’s 63-46 loss to Ateneo in the UAAP Season 82 men’s basketball tournament.

The Tamaraws were as dry as summer against the Blue Eagles, going 16-of-55 from the field and 7-of-14 from the stripe, while Ateneo fared a little bit better with a 22-of-68 shooting clip and 12-of-18 free throws.

Despite his team’s glaring lack of offensive production, Racela applauded his team’s defense on the Blue Eagles limiting the defending champions to their lowest scoring game this season.

“It’s what they do to you, they’re the best defensive team [Ateneo] and they take you away from what you want to do, so in that aspect, we need to execute better,” said Racela Saturday at Mall of Asia Arena.

“But I like the way we defended against Ateneo and even though those guys made life difficult for us, we also put the clamps on them and limiting them to 23 points in one half is an achievement.”

Ateneo led FEU 23-15 at the break but the Blue Eagles upped the ante in the third quarter and outscored the Tamaraws 24-17 in the frame to take a 47-32 heading into the fourth.

FEU’s scarce success from the field allowed the Blue Eagles to hold on to their margin well until the final buzzer.

“I’d like to think we did something good on the defensive end because Ateneo had a tough time against us,” said Racela in Filipino. “We need to be better with our execution on the offensive end especially against a good defensive team like Ateneo.”