Thirdy shakes off FEU’s physical play, leads Ateneo back to UAAP Finals
There was no question that the Final Four showdown between Ateneo and Far Eastern University in the UAAP Season 81 men’s basketball tournament was a physical affair that had the two teams combine for a total of 46 fouls.
And in the middle of that physicality was the Blue Eagles’ star Thirdy Ravena.
Ravena fouled out with 3:33 left in the game after absorbing his fifth foul, a charging infraction after he ran through Axel Iñigo, but he did enough for the Blue Eagles to take the 80-61 win.
The Blue Eagles, who own a twice-to-beat advantage by virtue of being first seed, advanced to their third straight finals and Ravena said any team that went into a game with a certain disadvantage will do every trick just to get even.
“That’s basketball and I know they’re competitors and they will do whatever it takes to take an advantage,” said Ravena Sunday at Smart Araneta Coliseum. “They will piss you off, hurt you, but at the end of the day you just have to do what you have to do and you can’t let that physicality affect your game.”
“This will cause a chain reaction, and it will affect your team and no one from the team can be selfish and be affected by those kinds of things.”
Ravena’s first three infractions were double fouls and his fourth one was a double unsportsmanlike after he got tangled up with Barkley Eboña at the start of the fourth quarter.
The most physical one that Ravena got involved with, though, came at the 7:12 mark of the third quarter when he narrowly dodged Alec Stockton’s right straight.
This led to Stockton’s ejection from the playing court.
“If you’re thinking of taking revenge that’s just negative energy and that negative energy will go nowhere,” said Ravena, who finished with 22 points, seven rebounds, and four assists.
Moments after Stockton’s missed hit, Ravena drilled a 3-pointer for Ateneo’s 48-24 lead.
“That was their choice to play physical but we just have to play it through and play within the system,” said Ravena. “All of us are needed in the game and I can’t let the physicality affect me.”
