Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — The Ateneo Blue Eagles continued their strong second round showing against the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Growling Tigers, 74-64, in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) on Saturday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
But it wasn’t a victory that lived up to the dizzying heights that the Blue Eagles showed the league that they could reach after their upset win over rivals La Salle.
Ateneo coach Tab Baldwin admitted that team had to do better, and that expectations for his young side are on the rise.
“We’re happy to get the win, but we need to play better basketball than we did today. I think our boys know that,” Baldwin said. “I think we understand that expectations have begun to escalate a bit for this team, which is probably a little unfair but that’s life.”
Since their loss to the UP Fighting Maroons in their first fixture of the second round, the Eagles have gone on a six-game winning streak and have placed themselves in prime contention for a twice-to-beat advantage with a 9-4 win-loss slate.
Even with his team trending upwards, Baldwin still emphasized that the young Ateneo side still has a long way to go.
“I don’t think we are of the stature or standing of a team like La Salle…They can probably look at their schedule and plan for certain games,” he explained. “For us, we showed today that if we drop our guard, we can put ourselves under pressure we don’t need to be under.”
He said it has been a learning season for his players — and that will continue.
“This season has certainly been a lot of firsts for this group players,” the Ateneo coach said about his players. “We will continue to enjoy that ride, but we have to continue to realize… We have to continue to learn.”
With a twice-to-beat advantage possibly at stake when they take on the Adamson Falcons on Wednesday, the former Gilas coach said his team is focused on that challenge.
“We have to forget everything else and put everything into that game and see where that takes us,” Baldwin said.
