Already tottering in the brink in the semifinal race due to a sudden slump following a strong start in the season, the Blue Eagles compounded their dilemma as ace pointguard LA Tenorio was declared out for four to six weeks after suffering a fracture on his right hand in practice Tuesday.
Tenorio is practically out for the rest of the campaign with the season likely to end while the player is still nursing his injury.
Minus the former San Beda High hitman, Ateneo’s core group is now terribly decimated as the Loyola-based school also lost to injury during the off-season two key players in Magnum Membrere and Paolo Bugia.
Tenorio’s ouster will be a telling blow on the Eagles’ bid with the 5-foot-8 heady guard, who has emerged as the heart and soul Ateneo’s running game, out of commission for the season.
The Eagles are reeling from three straight defeats and five setbacks in their last six games as they return to the playing court versus the National U Bulldogs today at the Makati Coliseum.
The Eagles have four other games left versus the UP Maroons, the Adamson Falcons, the Santo Tomas Tigers and the La Salle Archers. Against La Salle, Tenorio could have been Ateneo’s answer to the Archers’ dreaded pressing defense.
"We’ll just do our best to make it to the Final Four and see what happens afterwards, " said an Ateneo official.
Dropping their last three games to the Archers, the UE Warriors and the FEU Tamaraws, the Eagles are now out of the top three with a 4-5 win-loss card.
They are tied with the Tamaraws at fourth, only a game ahead of the Maroons (3-6) and a game and a half in front of the Falcons (3-7). The Archers (10-0) have clinched the first semis berth with the Warriors (7-2) and the Tigers (6-4) likely to follow in the next few games.
The Warriors seek to move within a win of the semis as they go up against the Tamaraws in today’s other game.
Actually, Tenorio already left their last game against UE Saturday limping and hurting as he took a bad fall at the outset of the final quarter.
The Eagles suffered a 96-97 loss at the hands of the Warriors – another sorry setback spawning rumors that all was not well within Eagles’ ranks. But Ateneo officials immediately denied the news, saying the team dropped a number of close encounters on the fired-up games of their rivals.