FilOil: Blue Eagles snatch victory over Tigers

(Updated 8:51am) Sophomore Blue Eagle Kiefer Ravena pushed defending champion Ateneo de Manila University to a thrilling 65-63 win over the University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers in their FilOil Flying V Pre-season Tournament meeting Wednesday at The Arena in San Juan City. With 5.7 seconds left, "The Phenom" spun in the lane and sank a 15-foot fadeaway jumper over the outstretched arms of UST point guard Jeric Fortuna to lead the Blue Eagles to their third win in the tournament. The go-ahead basket was only Ravena's second field goal as he finished with six markers. Fortuna had 13 points and six rebounds on 5-for-8 shooting.

The Tigers had a chance to send the game into overtime with 1.1 seconds left on the clock, but Greg Slaughter blocked Aljon Mariano's last attempt from beyond the line on the left wing. Slaughter and Mariano led their respective teams in scoring with 23 and 18 points, respectively.

 

It was a disappointing end to UST's roaring fourth-quarter comeback with the Tigers outscoring the Blue Eagles, 10-4, early in the period to move within two (54-52). In response, Slaughter and returning forward Ryan Buenafe's three-point swing gave Ateneo a seven-point cushion forcing UST to call a timeout with 5:54 remaining.  

The Tigers roared back, tying the count at 59-all behind a 7-0 run by Mariano, Fortuna and Cameroonian center Karim Abdul. That forced Ateneo to talk things over and they were quickly rewarded by Slaughter's turnaround hook shot.  

UST forward Jeric Teng would equalize the score with a floater in the lane and Ateneo's Ravena missed a jumper from the right wing on the following possession. Tonino Gonzaga, however, gave the lead back to the Blue Eagles with a running leaner from the same distance. Mariano would make another basket on the next possession to level the score at 63-all, setting up the game's frantic finish.

 

While both teams ended up with 24 makes from the field, the España-based squad held the advantage in field goal attempts against the Blue Eagles, 64-58.

Ateneo compensated by getting to the free throw line for a 25-14 disparity in attempts. But nine missed charities made the game less than comfortable for the Eagles, leaving the door open for UST to stay in the game. Ateneo mounted an early 10-0 lead in the first, with Slaughter scoring eight in the first four minutes. However the Blue Eagles struggled to find their mark the rest of the way, making only two more field goals as the Tigers fought back to put up 10 points of their own, five of them from the veteran Fortuna.

UST tied the game with a minute gone in the second frame on an Abdul put-back, but Ateneo's forays inside the paint paid dividends, leading to a 7-of-11 clip from the charity stripe. As a result, Tigers' center Paolo Pe picked up his fourth foul midway through the second quarter. Strangely, Ateneo couldn't capitalize on the big man's absence. Instead they went on a scoring drought in the final three minutes of the half. Conversely, UST rattled off nine unanswered points, including a Fortuna trey for a 33-30 UST lead as UAAP Finals MVP Nico Salva missed a right-handed floater as time expired.

 

The Blue Eagles picked up momentum at the start of the third period as Salva and Slaughter scored Ateneo's first nine points. Gonzaga highlighted that Ateneo scoring run with a cross-court alley-oop pass to Salva. Gonzaga registered 11 points, the second highest for his team.

 

Teng answered for the Tigers within the same stretch with five straight points, but the Tigers could not support his effort. UST would only score four more points the rest of the way, the last two coming off separate trips to the line by Mariano.

Ateneo attempted another 11 free throws in the third as Slaughter and Gonzaga were repeatedly harassed with their inside incurssions, but only managed to nail four. Buenafe and Chris Sumalinog hit back-to-back threes in the final minute for a 50-42 Ateneo lead.

The Blue Eagles improved their standing to 3-1, avenging their loss to the San Beda Red Lions on Saturday. UST, after surviving a comeback scare of their own against the University of Perpetual Help System Altas last week, fell to 1-2. — JVP, GMA News

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