For the first time in his UAAP Men’s Basketball career, Thirdy Ravena fouled out of a game. And it turned out to be very costly for the Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles.
Wednesday afternoon, Thirdy Ravena struggled to keep his foul count down against the Far Eastern University Tamaraws. Early in the final frame, the UAAP Season 80 Men’s Basketball Finals Most Valuable Player was already nursing four fouls.
But his fifth foul was one that he cannot accept.
As the 6-foot-3 swingman backed down 6-foot-4 Richard Escoto, the latter was called for a foul. Replays showed that Ravena had swung his left arm at the back of Escoto’s head.
The game officials deemed that it was an unsportmanlike foul, leading to him fouling out.
But for the fourth-year Blue Eagle, that should not have been the case, as Escoto had lost his balance, making him lose his footing as well.
“To be honest, just to clarify things, walang extra motion yun para sa akin. I didn’t even see him. Nagulat nga ako, sobrang baba na niya kasi. Nagulat ako na natamaan ko siya, kamay ko nasa baba naman,” said Ravena, who finished the game with eight points, four assists, and two steals in just 18 minutes of game time.
“Kasama talaga sa laro yun, I respect naman the call of the ref.”
Making it worse for Ravena was that the Blue Eagles lost their second game of the season, 60-63.
The second generation cager is not putting the blame on the calls, though. For him, it was their fault that they let go of an early-15 point lead.
“Actually, ‘di ko muna iniisip yung game ngayon. Ang hirap magalit kasi we did our jobs on defense e. It’s really our offense na nag-struggle.
“FEU played us well kasi makikita mo, scouted talaga kami. Breaks of the game, Hubert [Cani] made tough shots, we didn’t so yun,” he opined.
