THE BLUE Eagles, declawed and hobbled, may have sent crashing back to the ground but they vowed to pick up the pieces, rise up and soar anew to greater heights — sooner than later.
For only the first time in four seasons, the Ateneo kingdom collapsed and paved the way for the new UAAP king in the University of the Philippines after a heartbreaking 72-69 overtime loss in Game 3 of the UAAP Season 84 men’s basketball finals.
As hard as their fall was, the Blue Eagles are relishing this chance to regroup and return stronger than ever starting in the Season 85 slated this September.
“We’ll lick our wounds and say goodbye to an outstanding group of seniors. They have final exams now and very soon we’ll be back on the court preparing for the next season,” said coach Tab Baldwin in the aftermath of Ateneo’s fall as the three-time reigning champion.
Ateneo ruled the UAAP since Season 80. Included in its reign was an impressive 39-game win streak highlighted by a 16-0 wipeout of Season 82 before the pandemic as the only team to do it in UAAP history.
This season alone, Ateneo appeared dominant as ever with a 13-0 start only to be foiled by the Fighting Maroons in the tailend of the elims to miss out on an automatic finals berth.
That only set the stage for an even bigger defeat as Ateneo fell short in the three-game finale to kiss its dynasty goodbye.
For Mr. Baldwin, UP’s destiny prevailed and served as too much of a mountain to scale for their four-peat bid that was supposedly a swan song for their seniors Gian Mamuyac, Tyler Tio, Raffy Verano and Jolo Mendoza.
“Time will heal everybody as it does, and they (seniors) will recognize as I’ve said to them in the locker room. They’ll recognize all the things to be proud of. That’s the nature of sports. So we’re on the losing end this time and we get to experience how that feels,” concluded Mr. Baldwin.
Now, Ateneo tipped its hat to the new king with hopes of reclaiming the throne soon.
“It felt like destiny (for UP),” noted Mr. Baldwin, crediting the Fighting Maroons’ flurry of big shots in OT to complete a comeback from a 64-69 deficit in the last minute.
“You just gotta give a lot of credit to players and their coaches. They had a great season and we just weren’t quite good enough when we needed to be good enough. This was a great final and UP is a worthy champion,” he added. — John Bryan Ulanday