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UAAP finals: Roller-coaster stint at Ateneo comes to stop on top for Anton Asistio

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Camille B. Naredo, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2018/news/12/06/20181206_uaap1.jpg"/><figcaption>From a seldom-used guard at one point during his stint with the Blue Eagles, Anton Asistio became a reliable long-distance shooter and vital cog in Ateneo&#x27;s championship run. Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News</figcaption></figure></div>MANILA, Philippines—There was no way the Ateneo Blue Eagles would let Anton Asistio exit without a championship.Asistio was the lone graduating member of the Ateneo men&#x27;s basketball team, and his teammates gave him a perfect send-off as the Blue Eagles overwhelmed University of the Philippines 99-81 in Game 2 of the UAAP Season 81 men&#x27;s basketball Finals.Asistio scored just six points, making 2 of his 8 field goal attempts, but he was showered with adulation by the Ateneo crowd at Araneta Coliseum who chanted his last name after the game.&quot;All I want was to have the best goodbye gift to him which is the championship,&quot; said Thirdy Ravena of Asistio, who has been his teammate since their high school days with the Blue Eaglets.&quot;I&#x27;ve seen him develop incredibly. Dati shooter lang siya now he does a lot and I wish him nothing but the best sa next step sa career niya.&quot;Matt Nieto, Ateneo&#x27;s starting point guard, added that he was &quot;really playing for my senior, Anton.&quot;&quot;I never want him to be let down,&quot; he said.For Asistio, it was the fitting conclusion to a collegiate career that has been a roller-coaster. He was a seldom-used reserve in Seasons 76 and 77, getting so little playing time that he scored a grand total of six points over the course of two seasons. In Season 78, he was sent down to Team B.&quot;Instead of seeing that as a downgrade, I looked at it as an opportunity, an opportunity to get better, kasi the fact that they sent me down means na may kulang pa ako as a player,&quot; said Asistio.&quot;With the help of coach Yuri (Escueta), I was able to develop my skills and regain my confidence,&quot; he added.<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2018/news/12/06/20181206_uaap3.jpg"/><figcaption>Anton Asistio, once deemed unplayable in Tab Baldwin&#x27;s system, earned his coach&#x27;s trust en route to a championship. I would back him in any endeavor, because I believe in him so much,&quot; Baldwin says. George Calvelo, ABS-CBN News</figcaption></figure></div>Asistio got his break when Tab Baldwin took over as the head coach of the Blue Eagles ahead of Season 79. &quot;It was a clean slate for everyone,&quot; the guard noted. &quot;It was another challenge for me, and the rest is history.&quot;This isn&#x27;t to say that Asistio immediately impressed Baldwin. The Kiwi-American coach was frank in his assessment of Asistio: &quot;The coaching staff were encouraging me, &#x27;Come on, Anton is a great shooter, he&#x27;s a great competitor, he&#x27;s not gonna back down.&#x27;&quot;&quot;And I&#x27;m like, &#x27;He&#x27;s too short, he&#x27;s too weak, he&#x27;s too slow, and he can&#x27;t handle the ball.&#x27; And this is all true, and he knows it,&quot; he added.Asistio made it clear that Baldwin&#x27;s assessment of him was nothing he hadn&#x27;t heard before. Rather than hurt his feelings or discourage him, it only motivated him to work even harder.&quot;Dati pa sinasabi sa akin &#x27;yun, before pa ako pumasok ng college, sinasabi na sa akin &#x27;yun. So what I did was, if it&#x27;s true, I should do something about it. So &#x27;yun nga, I just worked on getting better,&quot; said Asistio, who shot a blistering 45.2% from behind the arc in the elimination round.Baldwin was impressed with the work that the guard put in.&quot;We ended up with a guy who got in the weight room, changed his body, changed his mentality, continued to be a great shooter, became very dependable handling the ball, and also is one of our more dependable defensive players,&quot; said Baldwin.&quot;So of course, he&#x27;s sitting here today as a graduating senior with all the laurels that he deserves because he worked his tail off to get them.&quot;After seeing how hard Asistio worked, Baldwin has no doubt the graduating guard will find success and the coach vowed to back him every step of the way.&quot;I would endorse this guy, I would back him in any endeavor, because I believe in him so much,&quot; he said. &quot;He&#x27;s a great kid, he&#x27;s a great young man, and he&#x27;s gonna do great things in life. We&#x27;re very blessed to have him in our program.&quot;Asistio intends to play in the PBA D-League and the MPBL after his UAAP career, while also finishing his master&#x27;s degree in communications from the Ateneo.For more sports coverage, visit the ABS-CBN <a href="http://sports.abs-cbn.com" target="_blank">Sports website.</a>

There was no way the Ateneo Blue Eagles would let Anton Asistio exit without a championship.

There was no way the Ateneo Blue Eagles would let Anton Asistio exit without a championship.

UAAP finals: Roller-coaster stint at Ateneo comes to stop on top for Anton Asistio

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UAAP finals: Roller-coaster stint at Ateneo comes to stop on top for Anton Asistio

Camille B. Naredo,

ABS-CBN News

Published December 06, 2018 06:50 AM PHT

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