Ateneo wrapped up its UAAP Season 86 campaign earlier than expected in what turned out to be a ‘fractured’ season. 

The Blue Eagles were sent reeling by two-time championship rival University of the Philippines, 57-46, on Saturday, Nov. 25 in their Final Four duel. 

Not only did the Blue Eagles fall short of defending the title, but their six consecutive finals appearances also came to an end. 

Despite the sorry season that saw Ateneo in a literal up-and-down elimination round with a 7-7 tally and back-to-back do-or-die battles, Tab Baldwin opted to stick to the positives that came out of it. 

“So a lot of people will look at this season and they’ll say ‘it’s a season of failure, it’s a season of indifference’. But I choose to look at the glass being half full. I’d like to think this season is a bridge for us. We’ve just come out of an amazing era of Blue Eagle basketball,” Baldwin said. 

“It certainly has been a roller coaster season for us. The record indicates that. If you were a fly on the wall in our practices, you would see that firsthand. But I just gotta say, I’m really proud of the team because this was a season of battles. Not just on the court, it was a really weird season. We battled to be better all the time to grow, to develop.”

At the start of the season, Baldwin found himself urging for his players to grow faster before it was too late following the departure of his three veterans in Season 84 MVP Ange Kouame, Season 85 Mythical Five member Dave Ildefonso and captain BJ Andrade. 

With rookies Jared Brown, Mason Amos and Rafy Celis eventually coming around, there was no way Baldwin would not be proud. 

“It’s just that kind of season. It's sort of a fractured season, if you will. But these guys showed a lot of heart. They stood toe-to-toe against what I think is an outstanding basketball team. We gave ourselves chances. And I don’t think I can ask much more of this team than what they accomplished this year,” Baldwin said. 

With the season now over for the defending champions, Baldwin is looking forward to what he hopes will be a bridge to a new era of success for the Blue Eagles basketball program. 

A team used to success such as Ateneo having to deal with a semifinals exit heartbreak, Baldwin is already plotting to be back where he thinks they belong. 

“We are gonna be optimistic. We’re gonna learn our lessons, we’re gonna continue to develop and grow. I think that the team you saw this year will be almost intact when the team takes the floor next year. So, this could be a very, very valuable season for the Blue Eagles and our future,” he said. 


“This has to be a spark for them which lights the fire, which burns all of us until we put it out with some hard work in the future. And so, we will be reminding one another in the months to come about the pain that we have so the fire doesn’t go out.”


“Hopefully, it will be part of the process of giving us the motivation and giving us the drive to work our tails off. To get back into what we believe should be the place we belong and that’s in the finals and ultimately winning championships,” he added.