FilOil: Hot-shooting Ravena carries Eagles over Archers

An embittered rivalry that spans decades, a titlist with five rings, another team raring to regain the throne, similar win-loss records that determine their quarterfinals position – the blue and green faithful had so much to cheer for in today’s game.

In the end, chants of “Go Ateneo” roared over “Animo La Salle,”  as the Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles defeated the De La Salle University Green Archers on Saturday 78-70, at the FilOil Flying V Arena in San Juan, in the final elimination round game of the FilOil Flying V Hanes Premier Cup.

Junior guard Kiefer Ravena led a fraying Ateneo squad that had only 10 players in uniform for the game. He tallied 31 points, five rebounds, and two assists, emptying his bag of tricks and leaving the DLSU defense dazed and confused.

“We were sharing the ball. Frank [Golla], Juami [Tiongson], Ryan [Buenafe], Chris [Newsome], everyone.”, said Ravena, “May mga araw talaga na. Hindi ko birthday, birthday ni Gwynne [Capacio], pero pinasa niya sakin yung swerte.”

The Green Archers dismantled what once was a 20-point lead, getting within six points in the fourth quarter after a triple by Thomas Torres, but it was a case of too little, too late, as they were unable to fully erase the deficit.

Juami Tiongson added 15 points and nine rebounds, while Frank Golla chipped in 12 points, seven rebounds, and three assists.

“This is my first experience in an Ateneo-La Salle game," said Ateneo head coach Bo Perasol. "I haven’t seen Juami that aggressive. He hasn’t been aggressive for the longest time. It takes a La Salle game for him to be that aggressive. And Anton [Asistio] taking those shots, that is just a mystery to me.”

Asistio, a rookie, scored six big points off well-timed three-pointers that kept Ateneo’s momentum going.

After the win, Blue Eagles brass however announced that they were pulling out of the tournament because of the injuries their players sustained.

The Eagles finished the eliminations as kings of Group A with a 7-1 record, but gave way for the University Red Warriors to take the number one seed. Now second-seeded DLSU closes out the eliminations with a 6-2 card.

Ravena and his flock were supposed take on Cruz and the Falcons on Wednesday. The Red Warriors however supplant them as the first seed in the Group A standings, while the next three teams (DLSU, UST, and CSJL) round out the top four.

Teng and his Archers will now face Baser Amer and the San Beda Red Lions (6-2) on Monday, June 3, at 2pm in the FilOil Flying V Arena in San Juan.

Centers JP Erram (MCL), Gideon Babilonia (shoulder), and Kris Porter (knee), as well as forwards Von Pessumal (finger) and Gwynne Capacio (hamstring) sat out the game due to injuries.

Both teams were engaged in a shootout from the opening tip, trading jumper for jumper. Rookie Jason Perkins hit a wide-open triple, but Tiongson pulled up for an easy deuce from the right elbow, 3-2. Thomas Torres hit a three from the right corner, but former Green Archer Nico Elorde responded with a three-ball of his own, 6-5. After a split by Perkins to put DLSU up by two points, the Eagles went on a 13-0 run, getting six points off Frank Golla 15-footers.

A stab by Perkins stopped Ateneo’s scoring rush, 18-9, and Almond Vosotros nailed another triple to cut the deficit to six. Ravena and Ryan Buenafe both made mid-range jumpers that put Ateneo up by 10, but Norbert Torres converted on a three-point play to make it a single-digit lead again. Ravena ended the first period by upping Ateneo's lead to nine after another tough jumper, 25-15.

The Archers opened the second quarter with aplomb, as Luigi Dela Paz swished in a jumper, Vosotros drained consecutive triples, and Norbert Torres hit a short jumper to snare the lead 25-24. The La Salle run only gave way to another blitz from the blue side though, as Ravena and Tiongson orchestrated a 12-0 spurt to put Ateneo ahead, 34-27.

Perkins stopped the Ateneo onslaught with a lay-up, but Ravena still waxed hot, making a tough, contested jumper, 36-27. Norbert Torres and Arnold Van Opstal both made shots in the paint, but the Blue Eagles fought back with six straight from Ravena and Golla. A short stab by Van Opstal capped off the quarter for La Salle as they trailed by nine points, 42-33, heading to the intermission.


The Blue Eagles exploited La Salle’s man-to-man defense by making deft passes to the open shooter, as they surged to an 10-0 start to the third quarter, 52-33. A lay-up by Perkins again stopped Ateneo’s offense, 52-35, but Tiongson hit a contested lay-up, plus the mustard, 55-35.

That would be the last basket that the Eagles scored in a while, as the Archers scattered 11 unanswered points to cut the 20-point lead to just nine points, 55-46. A split by Newsome and a stab by Vince Tolentino brought Ateneo back to the double-digit threshold, 58-46, but Van Opstal cut the lead to 10, 58-48.

Rookie Anton Asistio, who had missed all of his 11 attempts in the tournament thus far, made his first three-point shot off the right wing, 61-48. Van Opstal managed a split, but Golla countered with another 15-footer to up the Eagles’ lead to 63-49. A frustrated Jeron Teng made a straight-line drive to cap off the third canto at 63-51.

Asistio hit his second three to thicken Ateneo’s lead to 67-53, but the Archers went on an 8-0 run to slash the lead to six points, 67-61. After free throws by Ravena and Perkins, the former unloaded four straight points to push the lead to double-digits, 73-63.

A drive by Teng cut the lead to eight points, but Tolentino converted on a three-point play inside, making it an 11-point game, 76-65. A drive by Teng and a triple by Thomas Torres cut the lead to three, but Ravena found himself alone in the open court as he sealed the deal at 78-70.

The Eagles shot 49 percent from the field (32-of-65), draining five triples out of 18 attempts (28 percent). They added nine from the free throw line and 12 points off 12 DLSU turnovers.

De La Salle carved out 25 makes out of 72 attempts (35 percent), far below their league average of 44 percent. They out-rebounded the Blue Eagles 44-43.

Perkins led the scoring department with 15 points, followed by Vosotros and Teng with 14 apiece. Teng was heavily guarded though, and made only six out of 18 attempts. - RAF, GMA News