Since he was 17 years young, Kiefer Ravena has been a staple in the Philippines’ campaign in the Southeast Asian Games. And six years later, it still hasn’t gotten old for him.
Ravena formally clinched his fourth gold medal when Gilas Pilipinas zapped Indonesia, 94-55, in the final of the 29th SEA Games men’s basketball competition late on Saturday at the MABA gym in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia.
One of the most decorated cagers in the amateur ranks today, the former Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagle became the most-decorated cager in the regional stage, surpassing Rommel Adducul, who campaigned in the 1997 Jakarta, 1999 Brunei, and 2001 Kuala Lumpur editions of the biennial meet.
Breaking the record while playing alongside his collegiate batchmates made this the sweetest for him.
“Fourth SEA Games, fourth gold medal, just wow!” said Ravena, who averaged 8.0 points and 2.0 assists this tournament. “Every time I play in the SEA Games, it gets better and better.
“So I think this is the most special one for me.”
True enough, Ravena’s road to his fourth mint was not easy.
Gilas Pilipinas flirted with disaster before running away with an 81-74 victory over Thailand in the group stage.
Then, in a furious match against the host country, the Filipinos had to survive the ejection of Carl Bryan Cruz and Baser Amer before tallying a 98-66 victory followed by another narrow win over Singapore, 68-60, to punch a ticket to the finale.
But what made this edition very memorable for Ravena was his clutch step-back jumper against the Singaporeans that lifted the Filipinos out of harm’s way.
“We worked hard for ever single victory,” said Ravena, whose dad, Bong, had been part of the fabled squad that regained the SEA Games gold medal in 1991 in Manila.
“But of course, there should always be something that is truly special – and I think this is it.”
And he is not shutting down talks that he might suit up once more in 2019, when the Philippines hosts the regional meet.
