Ateneo holds off UP, grabs solo first place

Photo by August dela Cruz

MANILA, Philippines—Kiefer Ravena led the way as Ateneo held off University of the Philippines, 73-66, Saturday night in the UAAP Season 75 men’s basketball tournament at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

Ravena shot a game-high 21 points to help the Blue Eagles seize solo first place with a 7-1 record.

“It’s a win so we just have to take it and move on. But honestly I’m definitely not satisfied with the way we played,” said a displeased Ateneo head coach Norman Black.

Ateneo won despite committing 19 turnovers, eight more than UP. Not to mention, missing all of its attempts from three.

The Fighting Maroons kept it close and even had a couple of chances to trim the deficit further down the stretch but on both times misfired on a three-point attempt.

“Good thing in the end we got lucky, UP wasn’t able to hit their shots but definitely we can’t play like this on Wednesday against FEU,” said Ravena.

Ravena finally shook off a threatening comeback by UP with a three-point play, pushing Ateneo’s lead to eight, 72-64, with only 26.8 ticks left.

Seven-foot Greg Slaughter struggled offensively with just nine points and six turnovers but hauled down 13 rebounds and had four blocks.

Raul Soyud came away with 14 points for UP, which fell to a three-way tie with Adamson and UE in last place at 1-7.

Mike Silungan had 13 points but was scoreless in the final quarter.