Where did Ateneo go wrong?

USUALLY, we prod ourselves to say, “move on,” whenever we suffer some sort of defeat. That’s our coping mechanism to overcome negative vibes, depression even, resulting from an ego-deflating debacle.

I guess Ateneo is into that mind-mending mode right now.

After that stinging, crippling, 92-83 defeat at the hands of La Salle on Wednesday, Ateneo need not only to regroup fast but focus on future tasks as well heading into tomorrow’s winner-take-all Game 3.

It isn’t easy to forget something that had caused so much pain.

La Salle erasing Ateneo’s 21-point deficit was humbling enough for the Eagles

But for La Salle to limit Ateneo to just 8 points in the third quarter while unloading 26 points of its own was a pride-shattering slam too hard to swallow.

Just two quarters back, Ateneo collected 32 crushing points, spiked by 5 triples, to set up that 21-point bulge.

And look at this: Did La Salle not drop a 40-10 blitzkrieg to raze that 4928 Ateneo lead and retake the driver’s seat at 68-59?

Shockingly enough, Ateneo never regained its poise after that.

From a seemingly wellconditioned machine in the early goings, Ateneo tragically turned into a third-class spare part as in the ones being peddled in Mabalacat, Pampanga—if not a reconditioned, auctioned Subic truck that had seen better days.

While Ateneo was in perfect rhythm in the first and one-half quarters to totally outplay La Salle, it next deteriorated as if by design—inexplicably biting into the bait of La Salle’s run-and-gun style.

And when Ben Mbala, just 8 points in Game 1, started to assert himself as he had promised, there was no stopping the 6-foot-7 Cameroonian monster. He finished with 20 points and 16 rebounds.

If you still say Ateneo will win tomorrow, good luck.

THE much-awaited Family & Child Summit of the MTRCB (Movie and Television Rating and Classification Board) will be held today, Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Crossroads 77 Convention Center, Mother Ignacia, Quezon City. Spearheaded by MTRCB Chair Rachel Arenas, the event carries the theme: “Sakay na Pamilyang Pinoy. Byaheng Media, Byaheng MTRCB: Upholding and Passing on Filipino Tradition and Values in Media for Children.” Cheers!