With his brother watching on the stands, Thirdy Ravena put on a show at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
Ravena displayed his all-around brilliance, leading the Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles past Katipunan neighbors University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons 79-64 Wednesday afternoon.
The win gave Ateneo solo second in the standings while UP dropped its second straight game after its breakthrough win against the UE Red Warriors.
Second year Blue Eagle forward Ravena, who was stitched up after a nasty cut during the UE game, stuffed the stat sheets with 22 points, 10 rebounds, three assists, and a block. Moreover, he was highly efficient on the offensive end, going 7-of-10 from the field and 7-of-10 from the charity stripe.
The 22 year old though credited his teammates for his best game this season.
“It’s about what the team did. We were just at the right spot at the right time,” he said.
The Fighting Maroons though heavily relied on the troika of Jett Manuel, Paul Desiderio, and Diego Dario. The trio helped cut the once 11-point Ateneo lead to just four, 58-54, entering the final frame.
The Blue Eagles though were able to lock in on the defensive end, limiting the Maroons to just eight points in the first nine minutes of the quarter. Ravena also had a highlight reel block against UP rookie Javi Gomez de Llano with 7:05 left in the game – chasing down a breakaway attempt of the rookie that would have cut the lead to just six.
On the other end, Ravena, Chibueze Ikeh, and Anton Asistio helped extend the Ateneo lead to a game-high 17 points, 77-60, with 1:21 left in the game.
“As a team, we had a letdown in the third quarter. The players came out with the defensive intensity in the fourth,” Ateneo assistant coach Sandy Arespacochaga said.
“We have some rough patches but we also had stretches that saw us play well. We want to minimize the rough patches and that’s what we want to emphasize to the young guys,” he added.
Ikeh added 14 points and seven rebounds for Ateneo while Asistio added 10. In addition, Ateneo’s bench outscored their counterparts, 47 points to nine.
For the Maroons, Desiderio and Manuel combined for 42 of UP’s 64 points. Desiderio finished the game with 25 points.
The Ateneo Blue Eagles (4-2) will play its final game of the first round on Sunday, October 2, facing rivals DLSU Green Archers (5-0) at 4:00pm. On the other hand, the UP Fighting Maroons (1-5) play its penultimate game of the round against the NU Bulldogs (3-2) on Saturday, October 1 at 2:00pm.
The Scores:
ADMU (79) – Ravena 22, Ikeh 14, Asistio 10, Nieto Mi 7, Tolentino 7, Wong 6, Nieto Ma 5, Verano 4, Babilonia 2, Porter 2, Go 0, Ildefonso 0, Mendoza 0.
UP (64) – Desiderio 25, Manuel 17, Lim 7, Moralde 6, Dario 4, Espanola 3, Prado 2, Harris 0, Webb 0, Asilum 0, Gomez de Liano 0, Jaboneta 0, Longa 0, Vito 0, Romero 0.
Quarterscores: 13-17, 38-29, 58-54, 79-64.
