Ateneo nips UE, 77-72
Games today
(Smart Araneta Coliseum)
2 p.m. - Adamson vs La Salle
4 p.m. - FEU vs UP
For a while, University of the East’s rookie Bonbon Batiller would look like stealing the show from Ateneo superstar Kiefer Ravena.
But much like how most duels with the reigning Most Valuable Player ends, Ravena found away to lift his team in the end game.
Ravena overcame a paltry shooting night as he drained the shots which mattered to lift the Blue Eagles past Batiller and the Red Warriors, 77-72, yesterday in the UAAP basketball tournament at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
The win, their third in four matches, lifted the Blue Eagles to solo second, just half a game behind unbeaten University of Santo Tomas which was currently playing National University at press time.
After padding their lead to as many as 19, 52-33, the Blue Eagles got some scare with the re-entry of Batiller in the early moments of the fourth period.
Saddled with foul trouble all game long, Batiller pumped in nine of his 19 points in the fourth period to slowly will the Red Warriors back into the ball game.
With an array of acrobatic layups, steady jumpers and heady drives, the spitfire guard out of General Santos City took everyone’s attention with as the Red Warriors managed to trim the once-gigantic Ateneo lead to just a single possession, 71-68, with less than a minute to go in the game.
But Ravena had no plans of letting his team down as he drained a tightly contested fade away jumper over Paul Varilla to give the Blue Eagles a 7368 cushion with 28 seconds remaining on the game.
After two free throws by UE’s Fran Yu on the other end, Ravena then made two more free throws to secure the victory for the Blue Eagles.
“This is a tough win because this is our third game in seven days. This is especially tough for Kiefer and Von (Pessumal) because they play heavy minutes,” said Ateneo head coach Bo Perasol.
But that tough schedule didn’t seem to matter for the power pair as Pessumal had his best game of the season, scoring 21 points on 6-10 shooting from behind the arc while Ravena flirted with a triple-double, finishing with 15 points, nine rebounds and nine assists.
Ravena, however, had good words for Batiller at the end of the game.
“That kid is good,” Ravena said. “He has a lot of potential. We were fortunate that we cut his minutes due to foul trouble.”
Batiller finished with 19 points, four rebounds and three steals for the Red Warriors despite playing only 23 minutes.
Chris Javier had the best game of his season as he backstopped Batiller’s efforts with 17 points. The loss sent the Warriors to 2-2.
Scores:
ATENEO 77 - Pessumal 21, Ravena 15, Gotladera 9, Ikeh 8, Apacible 6, Ma. Nieto 5, Wong 5, Babilonia 4, Black 2, Capacio 3, Cani 0, Pingoy 0, M. Tolentino 0
UE 72 -Batiller 19, Javier 17, Abanto 6, Charcos 5, Derige 5, Palma 5, Varilla 5, De Leon 4, Yu 4, Sta. Ana 2, Gagante 0, Gonzales 0, Manalang 0
Quarters: 15-17; 43-33; 63-50; 77-72