As the eliminations come closer to its conclusion, the surprising Ateneo Blue Eagles at the cusp of securing a twice-to-beat advantage.
The Loyola-based dribblers are riding on a five-game winning streak since being upset by the University of the Philippines, with a huge matchup against Adamson putting a bow to the elimination round of the 79th Season of the UAAP.
One of the key cogs of keeping that strong late-season surge going has been the contribution of Isaac Go. The big man kicked things off with a 14-point, 7-rebound outing against defending champions Far Eastern University, with half of his scoring output coming in the final quarter to snuff out any attempted comeback by the Tamaraws.
He then followed that up with a career-high fifteen points on 7/9 shooting to put a bow on the disappointing season for the University of Santo Tomas with a 74-64 victory.
These performance in helping Ateneo take solo second place with one playdate remaining landed him the latest ACCEL Quantum / 3XVI - UAAP Press Corps Player of the Week nod, beating out Adamson's Jun Espeleta, La Salle's Jeron Teng and Kib Montalbo, and UE's Philip Manalang in the process.
This is the second straight week that an Atenean has been honored with this achievement, following Aaron Black.
According to the Xavier School alum, he is merely repaying the confidence that his coaches and teammates has given him. He says, "It’s the confidence that my coaches and my teammates give me that is important. When they put me in, they tell me that I can do something. They know that I’ll make the right play."
He adds, "It’s a huge confidence booster for my part and it gives me motivation to go out there."
Even with Isaac's contributions, Ateneo head coach Tab Baldwin is not surprised with the players that are stepping up during this stretch. The ertswhile national team head coach says, "Our team is full of good players. They’ve developed through the course of the season.” He adds, “They’ve developed confidence in one another and we try to take what the defense gives us. That explains why different players are probably featured in different games.”
At 9-4, a victory against Adamson on Wednesday will secure the other twice-to-beat advantage still in play. In contrast, a defeat will ensure a playoff for that privilege. Whether that will be a two-team or three-team playoff will be dependent on how FEU fares against UE on the same date. In any case that the Tamaraws and the Soaring Falcons are tied by themselves, FEU will hold the advantage.
The Loyola-based dribblers are riding on a five-game winning streak since being upset by the University of the Philippines, with a huge matchup against Adamson putting a bow to the elimination round of the 79th Season of the UAAP.
One of the key cogs of keeping that strong late-season surge going has been the contribution of Isaac Go. The big man kicked things off with a 14-point, 7-rebound outing against defending champions Far Eastern University, with half of his scoring output coming in the final quarter to snuff out any attempted comeback by the Tamaraws.
He then followed that up with a career-high fifteen points on 7/9 shooting to put a bow on the disappointing season for the University of Santo Tomas with a 74-64 victory.
These performance in helping Ateneo take solo second place with one playdate remaining landed him the latest ACCEL Quantum / 3XVI - UAAP Press Corps Player of the Week nod, beating out Adamson's Jun Espeleta, La Salle's Jeron Teng and Kib Montalbo, and UE's Philip Manalang in the process.
This is the second straight week that an Atenean has been honored with this achievement, following Aaron Black.
According to the Xavier School alum, he is merely repaying the confidence that his coaches and teammates has given him. He says, "It’s the confidence that my coaches and my teammates give me that is important. When they put me in, they tell me that I can do something. They know that I’ll make the right play."
He adds, "It’s a huge confidence booster for my part and it gives me motivation to go out there."
Even with Isaac's contributions, Ateneo head coach Tab Baldwin is not surprised with the players that are stepping up during this stretch. The ertswhile national team head coach says, "Our team is full of good players. They’ve developed through the course of the season.” He adds, “They’ve developed confidence in one another and we try to take what the defense gives us. That explains why different players are probably featured in different games.”
At 9-4, a victory against Adamson on Wednesday will secure the other twice-to-beat advantage still in play. In contrast, a defeat will ensure a playoff for that privilege. Whether that will be a two-team or three-team playoff will be dependent on how FEU fares against UE on the same date. In any case that the Tamaraws and the Soaring Falcons are tied by themselves, FEU will hold the advantage.
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