Ateneo pulled off what was perceived as the unthinkable this past Saturday, as the Blue Eagles ended the 12-game unbeaten run of La Salle with an 83-71 victory at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum.
The Green Archers have been very dominant in Season 79, including the first meeting of the two rivals last October 2, 97-81. But the Blue Eagles used their impeccable execution on both ends of the floor to establish a large lead and hold on to it until the end to give their archrivals their first loss of the season and establish the Final Four playoff format.
Leading the charge for the men in blue and white was Aaron Black, who notched 16 points on 7/10 shooting and 7 rebounds. That was his best performance in the last five games since coming back from a left foot injury last September that kept him out for a month.
Facing the media in the post-match press conference, Black says, "I just came into the mentality that I really want to win this game. Always be attacking." He is now averaging 9.3 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 2.2 assists this season for the Blue Eagles.
His performance in leading the Blue Eagles was rewarded as this week's ACCEL Quantum / 3XVI-UAAP Press Corps Player of the Week, beating out Paul Desiderio, Sean Manganti, and Matt Salem.
Ateneo's win keeps themselves within striking distance from the second seed and its corresponding twice-to-beat advantage. At 7-4, they officially booked their seat in the Final Four and is now one game behind Far Eastern University, who they face on Wednesday.
Ateneo head coach Tab Baldwin shares, "It means a lot to beat La Salle and it means a lot to get a win at this stage of the competition. It was a big win for us. We are very happy but we don't want to go much beyond that. We still have a huge game against FEU on Wednesday and we have to come down from the clouds and be ready to play."
The Green Archers have been very dominant in Season 79, including the first meeting of the two rivals last October 2, 97-81. But the Blue Eagles used their impeccable execution on both ends of the floor to establish a large lead and hold on to it until the end to give their archrivals their first loss of the season and establish the Final Four playoff format.
Leading the charge for the men in blue and white was Aaron Black, who notched 16 points on 7/10 shooting and 7 rebounds. That was his best performance in the last five games since coming back from a left foot injury last September that kept him out for a month.
Facing the media in the post-match press conference, Black says, "I just came into the mentality that I really want to win this game. Always be attacking." He is now averaging 9.3 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 2.2 assists this season for the Blue Eagles.
His performance in leading the Blue Eagles was rewarded as this week's ACCEL Quantum / 3XVI-UAAP Press Corps Player of the Week, beating out Paul Desiderio, Sean Manganti, and Matt Salem.
Ateneo's win keeps themselves within striking distance from the second seed and its corresponding twice-to-beat advantage. At 7-4, they officially booked their seat in the Final Four and is now one game behind Far Eastern University, who they face on Wednesday.
Ateneo head coach Tab Baldwin shares, "It means a lot to beat La Salle and it means a lot to get a win at this stage of the competition. It was a big win for us. We are very happy but we don't want to go much beyond that. We still have a huge game against FEU on Wednesday and we have to come down from the clouds and be ready to play."
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