Ateneo guard Tyler Tio. UAAP PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — Tyler Tio was glad to regain his shooting touch with his 17-point third quarter explosion that lifted Ateneo to its second win in the UAAP Season 84 men’s basketball tournament.
The senior guard scored all his 17 points, shooting 4-of-6 from deep, in the third to spark the Blue Eagles’ 79-70 victory over Far Eastern University on Tuesday at Mall of Asia Arena.
His breakout game made up for his struggles in Ateneo’s tune-up games and their 90-81 victory over University of the Philippines last Saturday, where he only shot 1-of-7 from the three-point line and finished with five points and two assists.
“I’m just happy that my shots finally went in and I’m thankful for my teammates for believing in me,” said Tio, who also had two rebounds, one assist and a steal.
“Even though I struggled in the past in our first game and our tuneup games, they still kept telling me to shoot my shot and fortunately today, it went in.”
Tio said he and his teammates followed coach Tab Baldwin’s game plan and responded to the challenge of facing FEU’s flamboyant guard RJ Abarrientos, L-Jay Gonzales and Royce Alforque.
“It’s definitely a challenge everyone knows what RJ can do. The guards knew we had to step up our game against him, and not just him but L-Jay, Royce,” Tio said. “We knew that they’re gonna be a tough challenge for us, so we had to step up most especially defensively and in offense, we just have to run the system and who gets the shots, so be it.”
Dave Ildefonso, who also scored 17 and made the clutch baskets to fend off FEU’s late rally, believes the best is yet to come for the 23-year-old guard.
“It’s great to have him contribute like that, especially during that great run that they had in the third quarter. I think that this is only the beginning for Tyler and he’s been working hard, especially in the offseason and the other games. Tyler is going to be much better from now on,” said Ildefonso of Tio.
Tio hopes to sustain his shooting touch for the whole season as Ateneo continues its quest for a fourth consecutive title against Adamson on Thursday.