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Tiebreaker Times

Ravena: ‘My teammates stepped up, I didn’t’


“For me, I didn’t get to make my shots. It’s not everyday I can make them.”

A dejected Kiefer Ravena remarked about his end game performance in a come-from-behind loss to the Univesity of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers.

In their tilt against the league-leaders, the Ateneo de Manila Blue Eagles were up 16 in the third quarter. To start the final stanza, coach Bo Perasol subbed out the team’s top scorers to get a breather. The Growling Tigers took advantage of this by blasting an 11-0 rally that tied the game at 57-all. When Ravena and Von Pessumal returned to the game, the momentum of the game has drastically shifted to the Espana-based squad. In panic over the growing deficit, the league’s leading scorer resulted to throw up shot after shot, but none converted. In addition, Ravena missed three of four free throw attempts that could have momentarily stopped the UST blitz. The Growling Tigers eventually won the game, 68-58.

UAAP-78-UST-ADMU-Pessumal Ravena: ‘My teammates stepped up, I didn’t’  - philippine sports news

Pessumal had 19 points on 7/13 shooting

“My teammates stepped up, I didn’t, so it’s all on me,” the Smart Elite ambassador said. “My teammates stepped up, Matt [Nieto] stepped up, Von [Pessumal] went big time today, John [Apacible], Fonso [Gotladera]. It was just on me during the latter part, it’s my time but I couldn’t make my shots.” Ravena, who is shooting 37.3% from the field in the team’s first four games, shot a miserable 4/18 from the field – making none in the final quarter.

Moreover, he admitted that all the plays coach Bo Perasol and his coaching staff called were for him but the sticky defense of Mario Bonleon got the better of him. “The coaches positioned me to the area where i’m most comfortable,[I] give credit to UST’s defense as well, so yun lang. Sa ‘kin lang talaga yung game,” Ravena reitirated.

Looking back, the Smart Elite ambassador compared this game to their double overtime tilt against the National University Bulldogs that just went the other way. “UST just made their shots. Kevin [Ferrer] made his shots, Karim [Abdul] made a crucial and-one, I don’t know what happened. But breaks of the game, just like our game against NU where the breaks favored us. It’s all part of the game and we just have to move on from it. We have to learn from it.”

The former Most Valuable Player vowed that he and the team will bounce back from this. “UST is a top team, together with FEU. We’re in the middle of the pack. At least we still have a chance to bounce back against them,” he closed.

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