Blue Eagles vanquish Archers anew

Seventeen year-old freshman Kiefer Ravena played like a man amongst boys as he made 22 of his total 24 point output in the first half of Ateneo’s 81-72 win over rival De La Salle University at the Araneta Coliseum Saturday afternoon.

The former Blue Eaglet and son of ex-PBA great Bong Ravena was a first-time starter in today’s game and did not waste any time making his presence felt after going scoreless in his first outing against Adamson University last Sunday. After scoring the first 6 points of the game, Ravena followed it up with a three-point play off a foul on a much older and experienced Simon Atkins at the 4:26 mark. He ended the first quarter with 14 points with the Blue Eagles on top, 23-16. The second quarter saw a lot more defense with both teams held scoreless for the first 2 minutes and a half until veteran center Justin Chua ended the silence with a bucket. A technical foul was called on Oping Sumalinog after a bit too much contact on Green Archer Tata Marata. Kiefer Ravena picked up where he left off as he continued his dominance on offense for Ateneo. After La Salle cut the lead to just 1, 25-24, Ravena hit back to back baskets to extend the lead to 5 and was quickly followed by a Greg Slaughter dunk with 4 minutes and change left in the first half. Ateneo led at halftime, 41-30.

De La Salle tried to play catch-up basketball in the third quarter with Ateneo extending the lead to 13 at the end of the first 30 minutes. Juami Tiongson hit a double pump layup with 7 seconds left on the clock but DLSU point guard LA Revilla quickly answered back to hit one of his own at the buzzer. The final quarter had the Blue Eagles maintain a comfortable lead most of the way with their starters taking charge, scoring all but 12 points of their team’s total. Points in the paint also favored Ateneo making 46 as compared to DLSU’s 28. A Nico Salva three at 2:22 put Ateneo ahead, 75-64.

Despite La Salle guard Simon Atkins fouling out with 1:12 remaining, the Green Archers tried to make a last-ditch effort with Norbert Torres trimming the Ateneo lead to just 5 with just over a minute left on the clock. That would be the closest they would get until veteran Emman Monfort went 6/6 from the line in the last minute. A Maui Villanueva floater in the dying seconds would prove to be futile as Ateneo was ahead by 9 .

Kiefer Ravena led the game in scoring, rebounding, and steals with 24, 10, and 5 respectively. Nico Salva added 18 points for Ateneo while Emman Monfort and Kirk Long each had 10 apiece. LA Revilla’s 22 points saw little help from La Salle’s other scorers with just one other Green Archer finishing in double digits.

Ateneo de Manila faces a much-improved National University on Thursday, 1 pm, at the Araneta Coliseum.

SCORES: Ravena 24, Salva 18, Monfort 10, Long 10, Slaughter 7, Golla 6, Tiongson 2, Gonzaga 2, Chua 2, Capacio 0, Sumalinog 0, Austria 0

By: Mikko Abello