ATENEO’s Chris Newsome takes it hard to the basket off La Salle’s Arnold Van Opstal in yesterday’s game at Smart Araneta Coliseum. AUGUST DELA CRUZ
MANILA, Philippines — Ateneo had enough tools to topple the defending champion, after all.
Coach Bo Perasol had tagged the Blue Eagles as heavy underdogs but the clutch-shooting Kiefer Ravena and a bunch of surprise performers sizzled as Ateneo rallied past fierce rival La Salle, 97-86, in the UAAP men’s basketball tournament Sunday at the packed Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Taking charge like he always does, Ravena exploded for a career-high 29 points and teammates Von Pessumal, Alfonso Gotladera and rookie Arvin Tolentino backed him up with their best games yet to power the Eagles to a share of top spot at 2-0.
Ravena delivered 14 points in the final eight minutes, including three straight triples that shattered a 61-61 tie and gave the Eagles a 70-66 advantage.
“Kiefer has a special ability to kill,” Perasol said after his Eagles kept the Green Archers winless in two games. “He’ll find a way no matter where, no matter how. He’ll find a way to win.”
University of Santo Tomas also survived a thriller in the second game as the Tigers picked up their first win by slipping past the Far Eastern U Tamaraws, 69-67.
Making up for a terrible first game, Kevin Ferrer topscored with 18 points, including back-to-back triples that gave the Tigers a 67-62 lead, time down to 1:57 minutes.
“We talked about our mistakes in the last game, so now, we showed how the Tigers really play,” said coach Bong dela Cruz after his Tigers recovered from an embarrassing 40-59 loss to the National University Bulldogs.
Ferrer, who only had five points and committed seven turnovers in that loss, added six rebounds, while Karim Abdul (16 points) and Kent Lao (14 points) also helped defuse the Tamaraws’ fourth-quarter rally.
Both the Tigers and the Tamaraws wound up with similar 1-1 records.
The Eagles ran into trouble early and trailed at 4-13, before Pessumal came off the bench to spark a second-quarter comeback on the way to a career-high 21 points.
Gotladera shone against his former team with 17 points and eight rebounds, while Tolentino buried half of his 14 points in the final quarter while grabbing 10 rebounds.
“It helped that I’m familiar with them and I kind of knew their tendencies already,” said big-man Gotladera, who served a one-year residency after jumping from rival La Salle.
The Archers, who fell into a 0-2 hole, looked a tad slow just like in their shock loss to the Tamaraws, 77-82, last week.
“There were some instances where it showed that we knew what we were doing, but there were also some instances when we were lost,” said La Salle coach Juno Sauler. “It’s really about trying to find a way to play consistently for 40 minutes.”
Jason Perkins paced the Archers with a career-high 25 points.
Pessumal drilled seven of the Eagles’ first 12 points in the second quarter, including a triple that gave them their first taste of the lead, 29-28. Still on a roll after the break, Pessumal fired seven straight points at the start of the third period that kept the Eagles afloat.
Ravena knocked in the last of his five triples at the 2:09 mark to give the Eagles their biggest edge at 14 points, 85-71.
The scores:
First Game
ATENEO 97—K. Ravena 29, Pessumal 21, Gotladera 17, Tolentino 14, Elorde 9, Newsome 7, Apacible 0, Babilonia 0, Capacio 0, T. Ravena 0.
LA SALLE 86—Perkins 25, Vosotros 18, Teng 15, Van Opstal 10, N. Torres 8, Rivero 4, Andrada 2, Salem 2, Sargent 2, Bolick 0, Montalbo 0, T. Torres 0.
Quarters: 17-24, 39-37, 61-59, 97-86
Second Game
UST 69—Ferrer 18, Abdul 16, Lao 14, Subido 6, Daquioag 5, Mariano 4, Vigil 4, Sheriff 2, Basibas 0, Gayosa 0, Lo 0, Pe 0.
FEU 67—Belo 19, Tolomia 14, Ru. Escoto 8, Hargrove 8, Tamsi 5, Iñigo 5, Cruz 4, Jose 2, Dennison 2, Delfinado 0,Pogoy 0, Denila 0, Ri. Escoto 0, David 0.
Quarters: 12-13, 31-26, 53-50, 69-67