Ateneo head coach Tab Baldwin. Photo from UAAP Media.

MANILA — The woes of Ateneo de Manila University continued on Sunday after they were dominated by De La Salle University.

After a decent first half against their lifelong rivals, the Blue Eagles suffered a huge meltdown in the last two quarters — with Ateneo only scoring four in the third period.

For Ateneo head coach Tab Baldwin, it was a matter of a team falling into the trap of committing mistakes, which he explained are a part of the growing pains of a team that is in the process of figuring things out. 

READ: La Salle flexes might over Ateneo in lopsided rivalry game

"I think our offense got stagnant. First half, we did enough right things to be a danger on the offensive end. But the mentality in the third quarter, we fell in love with the three-point shot and our shots weren't falling," he said after the game.

"A young team then tries to start figuring things out on their own."

But despite dealing with his worst start ever in his UAAP career, Coach Tab remains patient and is sticking with the positives of their performance. 

"To get it where it was at the end, we were competitive, and there were competitive possessions — that's where we want to be," he pointed out. 

"You have to be patient with the process. You invest too much time on something that you know will pay dividends, you just don't know when it will pay dividends." 

This marks Ateneo's worst start under Baldwin, matching their record in Season 76 (2013) in what was Bo Perasol's first year in charge of the Blue Eagles.

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