UAAP: Ateneo wins Battle of Katipunan, Maroons still winless

With the UAAP quickly changing this season 76, one thing remains the same: Ateneo still claims Katipunan.
 
Kiefer Ravena, Chris Newsome, and Ryan Buenafe led a balanced attack to stave off a late rally by their Katipunan neighbors, as the Ateneo de Manila Blue Eagles slew the University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons, 72-64, Sunday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

[Related: Review the play-by-play of this game here]

With the victory, Ateneo improved to 2-4, just behind their 2-3 arch-rivals De La Salle, while UP stayed winless at 0-5.
 
“I was giving them a very clear picture of what UP can do as we were reviewing the games of UP. In fact that team is really very dangerous and I think that their not winning anything is not a reflection of what they really can do”, said Ateneo head coach Bo Perasol. “Good thing about us is Kiefer is already 50 percent. You still have to watch out for the other 50 percent.”
 
Joseph Marata scored eight straight points to whittle down what was once a 17-point lead to just eight points late in the fourth quarter, but Juami Tiongson found Newsome streaking down the court, for an alley-lop dunk, 72-62, 33 seconds left. UP managed to score again on a basket by rookie Kyles Lao down low, but it was a case of too little, too late.
 
The Blue Eagles used a 19-10 scoring burst in the third quarter to finally get win number two at their neighbors’ expense, avoiding a drop to the bottom of the standings.
 
“As coach said in the dugout, he gave us the UAAP standings”, said Ravena, who led his team with 15 points on 6-of-15 shooting. “Everyone is packed right in the middle except for FEU. Ang goal namin is to improve lang, get healthy.”

Newsome added 13 points, grabbed seven rebounds, and handed out two assists, while Buenafe stuffed the stats sheet with 13 points, seven rebounds, two assists, one steal, and one block.
 
UP drew first blood after a short jumper by Marata, but the Eagles completed a short 7-0 run highlighted by a long triple from Ravena. Marata scored another basket, but Buenafe found Tiongson wide open in the left corner for a trey, 10-4, and UP head coach Ricky Dandan used his first timeout.

The Maroons however responded well after the brief respite, cutting the lead to four points after Marata swished in a triple, prompting coach Perasol to sue for time.
 
The teams however had a tough time scoring on each other’s defenses, as UP opted for frequent trips to the hoop, while Ateneo tried to cash in from long-range. UP did however manage to scratch two points off the lead to make it 19-17 heading to the second quarter, with Marata boasting of nine points already.
 
Ateneo made a living off the line in the second, adding four points off charities as they went up six points following a split by Newsome. Led by Chris Ball, the Maroons rallied to make seven quick points, and a three-pointer by rookie Jason Ligad temporarily stole the lead for UP, 28-27. Buenafe however fired two quick triples to bring the lead back to their side of Katipunan, 33-28.
 
Buenafe completed an 8-0 run on his own, 35-28, but Ligad drew the foul on a three-point try and sank two of three free throws, 35-30. Ravena however found Elorde in the right corner, with the latter sinking a trey that beat the clock, 38-30.
 
The defending champions shot 50 percent from downtown at the break (6-of-12), two from Buenafe and one apiece for Tiongson and Ravena. The Blue Eagles also had the advantage on the glass, 33-25.

Buenafe paced the Eagles with 10 points and eight rebounds, while Tiongson chimed in with nine points and five rebounds.
 
UP on the other hand shot fairly better (38 percent compared to Ateneo’s 34 percent), but made only two of their three-point tries (17 percent). They also attempted only four free throws, as compared to Ateneo, who added eight points from the stripe.

Marata scored nine points, all in the first quarter, while Ball added eight points and five rebounds.
 

Ravena’s reverse lay-up and Newsome’s split added three points to the lead, but a drive by rookie Kyles Lao cut the lead to nine, 41-32.

After Golla and Newsome traded points with Raul Soyud, 45-36, the Eagles swooped in for a 10-2 barrage, with Ravena responsible for half of those markers, 55-39. Vince Tolentino continued the scoring for Ateneo with a stab, but Marata quelled UP’s scoring drought with a lay-up, 57-40, and the score stayed as such until the final seconds.
 
Former UV Baby Lancer Paul Desiderio and Marata both hit triples in the early stages of the fourth, but JP Erram kept the Blue Eagles afloat, 61-46. UP caught five straight points from Ligad’s shots from the perimeter, but Capacio ended that short run with a lay-in off the glass 65-51.
 
The lead reached its zenith at 17 points. After a three-point play by rookie Kyles Lao, 68-54, the referees slapped Soyud with an unsportsmanlike foul after roughhousing Frank Golla. Golla sank both freebies, but Ateneo gave away to Marata, who went on a one-man 8-0 run to cut Ateneo’s lead to eight, 70-62.
 
Time was not on UP’s side though, as one minute remained on the clock. UP’s perimeter shots started to miss their mark, and Newsome capped off Ateneo’s second win of the season with a slam.
 
Marata dropped a career-high 22 points in another loss for UP, to go along with three rebounds and four assists. Ball tallied a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, while Ligad helped with 10 of his own. Soyud logged eight points and 14 rebounds. - CLP, GMA News
 

The scores:

AdMU 72: Ravena 15, Buenafe 13, Newsome 13, Tiongson 9, Golla 6, Pessumal 4, Erram 4, Elorde 4, Tolentino 2, Capacio 2, Lim 0, Murphy 0, Asistio 0

UP 64: Marata 22, Ligad 10, Ball 10, Soyud 8, Lao 7, Desiderio 3, Wong 2, Asilum 2, Suarez 0, Pascual 0, Gingerich 0, Gallarza 0, Amar 0
 
Quarter scores: 17-19, 30-35, 40-57, 64-72