PCCL: Ateneo survives UST, forces winner-take-all game three

The Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles forced a deciding game three against the University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers, thanks to a dramatic breakaway lay-up by Kiefer Ravena to put the defending UAAP champions on top, 70-69, in the Finals series of the Philippine Collegiate Championship League, Thursday, at the FilOil Flying V Arena.

Ateneo is bidding for a fourth PCCL title, while UST is seeking their first in their first appearance in the tournament Finals.

Ravena stepped up for his team with 21 points, nine from outside the arc, while shooting 8-of-12 from the field overall. He also added four rebounds and three assists. Greg Slaughter put together 14 points and 10 rebounds, while Tonino Gonzaga tallied 13 points with a perfect 3-for-3 clip from long distance.

Trailing by a point and with the momentum in UST’s favor in the fourth quarter, the Blue Eagles made a defensive stand, forcing the Tigers into a heave to avoid a shot clock violation with less than 20 ticks on the clock. With Ateneo collaring the rebound, Ravena promptly broke loose for a fast break lay-up to take the decisive one-point lead.

With 11 seconds to play, UST advanced the ball to the half court to attempt a potential game-winner, but Atneoe denied graduating point guard Jeric Fortuna an open look. The point guard passed to Kevin Ferrer in the corner, whose shot attempt was swatted out of bounds by Ryan Buenafe.

Left with a slim 0.3 seconds on the clock, Fortuna could not convert the catch-and-shoot play, allowing the Blue Eagles to escape with the game.

Ateneo made only three field goals in the final period, including just two, both by Ravena, in the final 7:36.

Tigers head coach Pido Jarencio was contesting a non-call on the shot clock violation, insisting that Ravena’s fast break bucket should have been denied. Instead, he says, a deadball situation should have been called because UST’s attempt didn’t hit the rim.

What was unclear, however, was whether the shot clock had already expired by the time the Eagles had scooped up the miss to set up Ravena on the break.

In the first quarter, the Tigers went to Karim Abdul for early points, but Ateneo came out with guns blazing, as Tonino Gonzaga hit back-to-back triples for the Blue Eagles. Kiefer Ravena chipped in another trey to make the bulk of an early 16-6 lead.

The Blue Eagles pressed their advantage with good offensive execution and more of Ravena’s sweet shooting in a 12-5 run, swelling their lead to 28-11.

UST had only four field goals before a Jeric Fortuna triple with under a minute to play, which stopped the bleeding, allowing the Tigers to settle for a 28-14 deficit after the first quarter.

Ateneo’s backcourt shined in the first quarter: Gonzaga and Ravena combined for 20 points, including five triples and a perfect 7-for-7 clip from the field.

In the second quarter, Greg Slaughter battled in the paint for six points. But on the other end, UST started to execute better, as Aljon Mariano and Fortuna dropped 10 of UST’s next 12 to trim the lead to 10, 36-26, with four minutes to play.

But the Tigers were rebuffed anew as Tiongson buried the Eagles' sixth triple, and Ateneo closed the half with a 7-4 balance to keep a 43-30 lead.

The Tigers battled fouling issues in a physical third quarter and slowly crawled back into the game. Abdul and Kevin Ferrer attacked the rim with ferocity, complementing some sweet shooting by Fortuna, to halve the deficit to seven, 49-42, with five minutes to play.

Benefiting from a frustrated Ateneo line-up, the Tigers made their way to the charity stripe and whittled the lead to five on a split by Clark Bautista with a minute to play. However, Gonzaga replied with 15 seconds remaining as Ateneo struggled to hold on to a 57-49 lead.

UST made only 6-of-12 free throws in the quarter. On the Ateneo end,  point guard Juami Tiongson landed on Ferrer’s foot in the third quarter at the 8:12 mark and did not return to the floor.

In the fourth quarter, Teng sizzled with six points, including a four-point play, as UST racked up 10 unanswered to take a two-point lead. Ateneo responded by imposing their will in the paint, allowing them to tie the game at 62 apiece.

The physicality got the better of Abdul, who was called for a blocking foul with 4:49 to play. The officials swiftly tagged him with his fifth personal foul for showing resentment to the call, and the Blue Eagles made 3-of-4 free throws for a 65-62 lead.

But the Tigers exacted revenge with a 7-3 run, boosted by Fortuna’s fourth triple of the game, to lead by a solitary point, 69-68, with just under two minutes to play.

Jeric Fortuna top-scored for the Tigers with 18 points, while Jeric Teng and Aljon Mariano notched 12 markers each.

The two sides will settle things when they play the final game of the series on December 7, Friday. - AMD/OMG, GMA News


Quarter scores: 28-14, 43-30, 57-49, 70-69