The Ateneo Blue Eagles had the unpleasant task of having to deal with a gutsy UST Growling Tigers squad in their own backyard.
The Ateneo Blue Eagles were faced with an unfamiliar task in the UAAP — having to deal with a “road game” as they locked horns with the UST Growling Tigers in the latter’s home court for their second round encounter on Saturday, October 19.
In a bizarre schedule set-up, the Blue Eagles were tasked to play the Growling Tigers at the UST Quadricentennial Pavilion, a very familiar venue for their foes.
But even as their opponents were literally the home team on the court that they practice day in and day out, the Blue Eagles were undeterred. They were even the ones who started out strong with a 7-0 burst to open the game.
As they hung on for the 67-64 victory, the Blue Eagles leaned on themselves to gut it out against UST.
[RELATED: UAAP: Ateneo staves off UST at Growling Tigers’ den for back-to-back wins]
After all, according to Ateneo skipper Sean Quitevis, it was still the same rules and same type of basketball that they play — no matter where the court is.
“Whether it’s [a] home or away court, basketball court is a basketball court,” said Quitevis, who made the crucial steal on an inbound from Forthsky Padrigao to push Ateneo’s lead to four points, 66-62, with 11.7 seconds remaining.
“The rim’s 10 feet [high], the free throw line is 15 feet [away from the basket], the court is 94 feet [long]… It’s what we play everyday so we’re just excited to be here.”
Still, there was an added disadvantage for the Blue Eagles — in particular when it came to the crowd.
Being inside the University, there was significantly a lot more UST fans than there were supporters of Ateneo, and as the Growling Tigers threatened to come back against the Blue Eagles late in the fourth quarter, the QPav was rocking.
But for Ian Espinosa, who came up with 11 points of 4-of-9 shooting for Tab Baldwin’s Blue Eagles, he said that they simply focused on what they can control.
“Siguro yung sinabi ko sa team na mag-focus lang kami sa mako-control namin, di yung sa di namin mako-control. Stick lang kami sa gameplan ni coach Tab,” Espinosa remarked.
“Kahit na mag-run yung UST alam namin maganda yung crowd nila so kailangan naming mag-stay together,” he added.
[RELATED: UAAP: Tab Baldwin beams with pride at ‘gutsy’ Ateneo in win over UST]
The Blue Eagles are starting to get their groove after a dismal first round where they ended up dead last with a 1-6 slate.
But now, the Katipunan squad is on a two-game winning streak and are tied for 5th with a 3-6 slate. Currently, there are three teams with identical records at 3-6 — including the Adamson Soaring Falcons and the FEU Tamaraws.
They hope to break out of the tie when they face Adamson on Wednesday, October 23, at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.