Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
Playing more as a team, Ateneo gave the fancied Gilas cadets an early wakeup call, 75-69, at the start of the 2018 Filoil Flying V Preseason Cup Saturday night at Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan.
Thirdy Ravena scored 16 points, including a dunk off a steal on Kobe Paras that sparked a fourth quarter run by the Blue Eagles.
Ateneo led by as much as 15, 69-54, with less than five minutes left against a team comprised of the country’s best young talents, but Eagles coach Tab Baldwin downplayed the victory.
“I’m not too impressed. I thought we just went out and play,” Baldwin told reporters.
“We had a good spurt in the fourth. I thought our defense for the most of the game, there was some passion into it and we played with a lot of intensity.”
Ricci Rivero had a game-high 17 points for the Cadets, who just had more or less a week to prepare for the tournament.
Paras added 13 points but he couldn’t get anything going late in the game. Juan Gomez de Liaño scored Gilas’ last eight points to finish with 11. De Liaño played double duty after also suiting up for University of the Philippines in the first game.