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Shawn Tuano was in a very different mood this time last year. What changed for the Atenean?
On September 15, 2024, the Ateneo Blue Eagles fell short against their rivals, the De La Salle Green Archers, in the UAAP Season 87 Men’s Basketball Tournament. They dropped to the bottom of the standings with a shocking 0-3 record.
Shawn Tuano took the loss particularly hard, as he missed all six of his free-throw attempts that day and failed to close the gap to the Archers when his team needed the boost.
Fast forward to October 5, 2025, and those missed free throws may seem like a distant memory now to Tuano. The Eagles are in a very different position than they were a year ago today: they currently lead the UAAP Season 88 Men’s Basketball standings with a 4-0 win-loss record, still perfect after their victory over the Archers.
But one of the biggest changes? Tuano made one hundred percent of his free throws this time around — and he delivered especially well when it mattered the most.
Although the Blue Eagles took a commanding 33-point lead over the Archers towards the end of the third quarter, La Salle mounted a huge comeback to cut that lead to just 11 points with only four minutes left until the final buzzer. Momentum was with the Archers — but not if Tuano had anything to say about it.
The third-year player scored nine of his 15 points in the fourth quarter, and it was his perfect free-throw shooting that ultimately sealed the deal for Ateneo. Without it, who knows if the Archers would have been able to miraculously steal the victory?
“The big reason we left Shawn out there was not to hit baskets,” Ateneo head coach Tab Baldwin stated after the game. “The big reason was he’s a good defender and he was making his free throws.”
Quite a turnaround from his zero-for-six stat line from Ateneo’s first 2024 meeting versus La Salle.
Progress that pays off
So, what changed for Shawn Tuano in the span of a year?
“I think my preparation for the game,” he shared in an exclusive with The GAME. “Just holding space for myself. Knowing that no matter how much work you put in, it may or may not show on the court. So I don’t base my emotions off my performance. I keep moving on to the next game, and just giving it my all.”
In the postgame press conference, Tuano added, “I think just trusting in my shot and trusting in the work that I put in in the offseason. That’s what helped me to have that confidence shooting those free throws.”
This UAAP season, Tuano seems to be handling the pressure of playing for a team like Ateneo quite well. When his team came close to botching a 33-point lead, he made sure that the Eagles would make it over the line. Ultimately, he credits to the confidence he’s continuously building with every passing game.
“Even though we’re so early [in the season], I think that it’s very valuable lessons for me too. When things don’t go my way or shots don’t keep falling, stay confident in myself. Stay confident in the work that I put in. And just keep going.”
Shawn calls himself “a very energetic player.” When the pressure mounted in the fourth quarter, he revealed that that’s where he drew his energy from.
“A lot of my plays come from that type of energy. It starts on defense, though, for me. If I’m able to get some stops for the team, then it not only gets myself going, but our team as well.”
Tuano shot eighty percent of his field goals, on top of his stellar free-throw shooting. But apart from this, he played very well defensively. To him, this is a matter of showing up and playing any role that the team needs.
“I just tried to do my role to the best of my abilities,” he shared. “If I’m the energy guy, I’m the energy guy. If I’m needed to score, I’m going to try to score. If I’m needed to play defense, I’ll play defense 95 feet. But whatever Coach Tab says or needs me to do on the court, I got to accomplish that.”
Coach Tab Baldwin affirms all the progress Tuano has made since last year.
“He’s put in mountains of work to become a confident free-throw shooter, and tonight, he’s seven-of-seven, and the team being 26-of-30. I mean, you don’t see that very often in the UAAP, and we haven’t seen that for Shawn,” Baldwin shared.
However, the Blue Eagles all know that their perfect 4-0 record will mean nothing if they can’t continue to perform throughout the rest of the season — and the season has only just begun.
“I think we’re gelling pretty well…I think we’re not at our best form yet,” Shawn affirms to The GAME. “As the season goes on, second round, I think, as we showed in the first three quarters, that we’ll be able to try to do that and replicate that for every game.”
Banner images from UAAP Media Bureau.