Ateneo runs streak to 6, La Salle rebounds

Ateneo and La Salle continued building momentum toward their highly anticipated showdown by crushing their opponents in Saturday’s UAAP men’s basketball double header at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Thirdy Ravena hit a huge triple to kick off a strong finishing by the Blue Eagles, who rolled to their sixth straight victory with a 96-83 tripping of National U.

With its cruising start to the season still not hitting a speed bump, Ateneo stole the spotlight from defending champion La Salle’s thorough 115-86 drubbing of University of Santo Tomas in the first game.

The Blue Eagles can now focus on La Salle as the two fierce rivals near their monumental showdown next week. The Archers have one more game before the first of at least two blockbuster duels against Ateneo.

NU, which dropped to 2-4, sparked a late rally that cut a 12-point deficit late in the fourth to just seven, 85-78, with Issa Gaye throwing one down in transition at the 2:46 mark.

Ravena, however, quelled the comeback with a booming triple that gave Ateneo an 88-78 lead with 2:20 remaining in the game. Chibueze Ikeh effectively finished the game off for Ateneo as he rolled to the basket for the open layup and a 94-80 Eagles lead with 50 seconds to play.

“NU’s a tough team, we knew that coming in,” said assistant coach Sandy Arespacochaga. “We played their pace, which was an up and down game. Good thing in the fourth quarter we played better defense.”

And that defense was focused on NU’s J-Jay Alejandro who had 21 points coming into the fourth before being held to just three in the final period.

After losing to University of the Philippines, 98-87, last week, the Green Archers vented their frustration on the groping-for-form Tigers, who have yet to win in six matches—the team’s worst start since the 1993-1994 academic year.

La Salle remained in second with a 4-1 record behind undefeated Ateneo.

“Well we played unselfish basketball and we had 26 assists the whole game and it was very impressive because it was a very fast-paced game,” said assistant coach Miggy Solitaria.

Surprisingly, coach Aldin Ayo skipped the post-game interview for the first time this season for still unknown reasons.

The Green Archers bamboozled the Growling Tigers on the defensive end and forced the latter to turn the ball over 35 times, which La Salle translated to 37 points.

Ben Mbala had a game-high 29 points with nine rebounds to lead La Salle.