Rookie Ravena lifts Ateneo past La Salle

In his first collegiate UAAP game last week, Ateneo freshman Kiefer Ravena missed his only shot in the Blue Eagles' 55-51 win over the Adamson Falcons. Was Ravena simply overhyped? In his second game on Saturday, the most heralded collegiate rookie in recent years lived up to the hype against Ateneo's rival La Salle. Ravena put on a show in front of 15,491 fans inside the Big Dome in leading the four-peat-seeking Blue Eagles to an 81-72 win over the Green Archers. The 5-foot-11 Ravena scored the game's first six points and made 18 of Ateneo's 23 total output after 10 minutes of play. "I was pumped up," said Ravena about his first six points. "I'm very thankful because my teammates were looking for me and good thing my shots were falling." Ravena's output in the first half was the highest since Dylan Ababou scored 23 against National University on July 16, 2009. Leading all scorers, Ravena finished with 24 points, 10 rebounds and five steals, a big improvement from his scoreless, two-rebound and one-assist output in his much-awaited debut in Ateneo's opening game win against Adamson. "Kiefer performed very well especially in the first half," said Ateneo coach Norman Black. "He gave us a big lift. He pretty much carried us offensively in the first half which gave us a little bit of a cushion for the second half." The loss was the Green Archers' second, their first 0-2 start since Season 72, the same year they missed the Final Four for the first time since the format was used in 1994. Ravena's first two points as a rookie came on his first touch of the game, a driving lay-up in the 9:11 mark. He quickly followed it up with an acrobatic lay-up inside before finishing a fast break play with a reverse lay-up that energized the Ateneo crowd. Ravena added eight more in the first quarter and even assisted on Ateneo's last points of the period when he issued a pass to Frank Golla for a 23-16 lead. A Justin Chua hook shot opened the second period for a 25-16 spread. And when everyone thought the Blue Eagles were going to break the game wide open, the Dindo Pumaren-coached squad came back strong. La Salle made four straight baskets to cut Ateneo's lead to one, 25-24. Ravena, however, made back-to-back baskets in a 7-0 Ateneo spurt highlighted by rookie-transferee Greg Slaughter's two-handed jam for a 31-24 edge. A closing 8-2 run stretched Ateneo's lead to 41-30 at the turn. Nico Salva and Kirk Long took over in the third quarter to continue Ateneo's romp as they combined for 13 points in the third. Back-to-back lay-ups by Long gave Ateneo a 58-39 spread. Salva, Long and the diminutive guard Emman Monfort, who scored the Blue Eagles' final six points at the free throw line, added 10 markers each. Salva grabbed seven rebounds. La Salle's LA Revilla had 22 points and scored 10 in the fourth quarter in the Green Archers' comeback attempt. His jumper at the 3:28 mark of the contest cut La Salle's deficit to eight points. A La Salle turnover, however, led to a Salva three-pointer that pushed Ateneo's lead back to double digits at 75-64 with 2:23 left in the fourth period. – Reuben Terrado/JVP/HS, GMA News