Eagles step up in the Growling Tigers’ lair, winning back-to-back for first time in Season 87 after narrow triumph

Playing near-perfect in a hostile environment, Ateneo made sure that University of Santo Tomas’ (UST) rare home court advantage had little to no effect on the result the Blue Eagles aimed for in their second meeting in Season 87 of the UAAP men’s basketball tournament.

The Eagles avenged a first-round loss to the Growling Tigers and sealed their first winning streak after carving out a 67-64 nipping of Santo Tomas at UST’s Quadricentennial Pavilion on Saturday, where Ateneo turned the ball over for just an eye-popping three times.

“I don’t know when the last time in the UAAP you had to play a road game. And of course I’m used to that throughout my career … But never here,” Ateneo coach Tab Baldwin said. “It was a mystery to us why that happened. But it did.

“And what it required of us was to really gut it out. And I think this was one of the gutsiest wins we’ve had in a few years,” Baldwin added.

The Tigers played in front of a crowd mostly clad in yellow that cheered their hearts out, but they went off to a bum start as the Eagles opened up with a 17-4 run.

Ateneo then spent the rest of the game fending the Tigers off, as the Eagles were helped by 17 offensive rebounds and 18 Santo Tomas turnovers.

Meanwhile, La Salle booked the first ticket in the Final Four after shooting down Adamson, 70-45, in the second game.

The Green Archers stayed on top after rising to 9-1 with their sixth straight win, the hottest run of the league.

Reigning MVP Kevin Quiambao led La Salle in the rout with 17 points and six rebounds.

‘Real warriors’

“As we have been this year, sometimes when you’re your own worst enemy, not taking advantage of the opportunities that you create, you’ve got to gut it out,” Baldwin said.

“And these two guys that are sitting here today (Ian Espinosa and Sean Quitevis) are the best examples on our team of that type of character.

“They’re real warriors. They’re guys that play every possession with their hearts. Sometimes I wish they wouldn’t,” he said. “Sometimes I wish they would use their heads a bit more. But we can never question their heart.”

Andrew Bongo scored 14 points to lead the Eagles, who improved to a 3-6, while Espinosa tallied 11 points and six rebounds.

Shawn Tuano came up with 10 points like captain Chris Koon, with Quitevis making a crucial steal on UST main gunner Nic Cabañero with 11.7 seconds that doomed the Tigers to their sixth loss in 10 games.

“We are giving ourselves a chance. And if the shots ever start falling, if we start making the easy ones and we start making free throws, we’re not going to be a team that’s averaging 60 to 65 points. We’re going to be a team that’s averaging 75 points,” Baldwin said.