UAAP Finals: Tab Baldwin calls out referees for non-call on Thirdy Ravena

Tab Baldwin, right, wants his young team to learn from high-pressure moments such as those his players experienced in Game 1 on Saturday. Photo by Arvin Lim, ABS-CBN Sports

MANILA, Philippines — The referees saw it as a clean strip. Tab Baldwin thought there was contact.

If the game officials saw it his way, the Ateneo head coach might be seeing a different result.

Baldwin's Blue Eagles lost to the Green Archers 67-65 in Game 1 of the UAAP Season 79 men's basketball finals on Saturday, a hard-fought affair that could've gone either way.

Up 65-64 and with ball possession, Ateneo spaced the floor to isolate Thirdy Ravena on Kib Montalbo. Ravena drove from near center court to the top of the key and looked to get a shot off when Montalbo swiped the ball off Ravena's hands.

The turnover led to Jeron Teng hitting the lay-up on the other end, which gave the Green Archers a 66-65 lead.

"I'm not very happy about the opportunity that Thirdy had," Baldwin said. "I think it's pretty clear that he was fouled."

"We all — thousands of thousands of people, millions around the country — expect players to make big plays," he added.

"Well, I expect referees to make the correct calls, too. When they don't, they need to be called out."

"Not to say that he would have made it, but I think he would have made his free throws. He's a good free-throw shooter," Baldwin said of Ravena, who made four of his six charities in the game and is shooting 70.5 percent on free throws this season.

The play in question notwithstanding, Baldwin praised La Salle for a well-played game.

"We got off to a terrible start and I think La Salle got off to a great start — a lot of composure, and they did things the way they wanted," he said. "We didn't.

"We were very rattled, I think, in the beginning, by La Salle and maybe by the occasion too."

Asked if the game would have ended differently if they had a better start, Baldwin shrugged.

"Who knows?" he said.

"You know you do your job, you prepare, and we were prepared and we went out. But whatever the reason — and I prefer to credit La Salle — they really came out. They were business-like at the beginning of the game and we weren't."

Baldwin and the Blue Eagles have three more days to prepare for Wednesday's Game 2, and the head coach expects his team to grow up quickly and be better as they try to extend the series.

"But it's not about lessons right now. It's about standing up to the challenge and becoming champions, so today La Salle did a better job on that, and we didn't."

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