Ateneo’s Tab Baldwin and the returning Chris Koon. Photo from UAAP Media

MANILA (UPDATED)— Ateneo de Manila University is finally in the win column of UAAP Season 87.

The Tab Baldwin-coached squad avoided a 0-4 hole after outlasting Adamson University, 60-51, during their men's basketball tournament faceoff on Saturday at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.

Top scoring for the Blue Eagles was Shawn Tuano who had 11 points, four rebounds, and an assist; anchoring their frontline was Kristian Porter who had an eight-point, 10-rebound game together with an assist, a steal, and a block; while the returning Chris Koon posted eight markers. 

"We're obviously happy. The guys fought really hard. I’ve said that we’re a team that will have good patches and bad patches, and the fourth quarter was a really bad patch but we survived," said Baldwin after the game, as he briefly explained what finally worked for them to get their first victory in four games. 

"We took care of our third quarter woes, at least for this game, and that was really refreshing and it made us feel a lot better by the fourth quarter. Adamson really did a very good job. Nash [Racela] is about as smart as they come. He started switching with his big men, and they were trusting Cedric [Manzano] to play our guards one-on-one and he did a great job of that," said Coach Tab, pointing out how the Soaring Falcons overcame a once 16-point lead of ADMU and cut it to three in the fourth. 

"They really caused us to be tentative and we fell into that trap of only shooting threes and it almost cost us. But [Porter] played big minutes, played virtually the whole fourth quarter and he had to deal with Cedric who was a tough matchup for anybody. Most teams of course throw their import at him and he still does a good job but Ports did a good job for us today."

Baldwin also credited Porter’s late follow-up in the fourth period, saying that it was the point where they knew that they were in a good position to seal the victory. 

"Ports did a good job for us. It was a big stop where we had to get one and a big rebound, offensive rebound, big stick back so that was great," he said of Porter’s basket off a Koon miss to extend their lead to five, 54-49, with only 2:49 left in the contest. 

But aside from this, what the former Gilas Pilipinas mentor was most proud of was the composure that they showed in the final half of the bout — the part of the game which was where they had meltdowns previously. 

"It was one of those bend but not break scenarios and we have been in that. It was great to have a lead really for the first time this year in a critical stage of the game, and we got to feel what it’s like for the other team to be desperate," he said. 

"Adamson made big runs in the fourth quarter and they bent us. We really had to dig in. You know, we only had 10 points in the fourth quarter, and credit Nash [Racela] and the way they executed their switching defense, but I think the composure moment of the game was when Porter got the offensive rebound and the putback."

"It sort of popped the balloon, the pressure went out, and from that point, we handled the ball well, we played good defense, we rebounded on the defensive end," he added. 

On the other hand, Manzano led AdU with 14 points, seven rebounds, and three assists. Unfortunately, they fell to .500 with a 2-2 record. 

The Scores:

ATENEO 60 – Tuano 11, Porter 8, Koon 8, Lazaro 7, Bongo 7, Gamber 6, Quitevis 5, Bahay 5, Espinosa 2, Balogun 1, Ong 0, Espina 0, Edu 0.

ADAMSON 51 – Manzano 14, Yerro 6, Ramos 6, Erolon 4, Anabo 4, Barasi 4, Fransman 2, Mantua 2, Ojarikre 2, Calisay 2, Montebon 2, Dignadice 2, Alexander 1.

Quarters: 17-6, 31-20, 50-36, 60-51.