Blue Eagles leave Archers loss behind

Game Saturday (Smart-Araneta Coliseum) 4 p.m. — La Salle vs Adamson (Final Four, Green Archers with 2x-to-beat edge) Game Sunday (Smart-Araneta Coliseum) 4 p.m. — Ateneo vs FEU (Final Four, Blue Eagles with 2x-to-beat edge)

Denied of an outright finals berth by defending champion La Salle, Ateneo coach Tab Baldwin is not one to fret about a missed opportunity for so long. After all, he and the Blue Eagles are still on the right track to complete their ultimate mission.

“We need to put that in perspective. It would have been nice to have, but that’s it—it would have been nice,” said the Kiwi-American mentor, barely expressing any regret onver a failed bid after the Blue Eagles suffered a monumental collapse and lost to the Green Archers, 79-76, at the packed SmartAraneta Coliseum last Sunday night.

The loss, its first and last in the elimination round, prevented Ateneo from clinching an automatic finals berth and instead set it up for a collision with No. 4 Far Eastern University Tamaraws on Sunday, with the Blue Eagles enjoying a twice-to-beat edge as the No. 1 seed.

Meanwhile, the Green Archers, who finished the eliminations at second overall, will be armed with a once-towin advantage against the third-ranked Adamson Soaring Falcons on Saturday also at the Big Dome.

While his charges are still licking the wounds inflicted by their resurgent archrivals, Baldwin, 59, could not help but urge the Blue Eagles to keep their focus on the bigger picture—and not on a blown chance.

“We still have to win the title. So now, we just have a different route to try and do what we really want to do,” he said.

“Things like sweeps and undefeated seasons are things you dream about but you got to leave them behind pretty quick. Even if we win tonight, we got to leave it behind because the golden apple that we’re after is still in front of us. What really matters is the next game, right?”

However, the Blue Eagles could have given themselves at least 10 days of rest had they were able to protect a seven-point cushion and show enough poise down the stretch in the face of the Green Archers’ rally.

—JEROME LAGUNZAD