Ateneo turns heads at Jones Cup debut, routs Chinese Taipei

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines-Ateneo Blue Eagles opened their 40th William Jones Cup campaign with a blowout win over host team Chinese Taipei-White, 87-64, at the Xinzhuang Gymnasium in New Taipei City, Sunday, July 15.

Thirdy Ravena, the reigning UAAP Finals MVP, tallied 17 points, 5 boards, 3 steals and a block to power the Blue Eagles in their Jones Cup debut. (READ: Jones Cup 2018: Ateneo size a ‘big issue’)

Angelo Kouame also delivered for the Blue Eagles with a huge double-double of 15 points and 18 rebounds. 

Mike Nieto sank his first bucket off a triple to open the second quarter with a double-digit lead, 31-20 – a sign of things to come.

Key bench guys Jolo Mendoza and Gian Mamuyac chipped in their share from downtown and completed a 12-2 run, 38-22.

Kouame, Ateneo’s 6-foot-10 Cote d’Ivorian reinforcement, also showed his deft footwork with a quick drive from the perimeter for an inside bucket, 45-33.

Gilas cadet Matt Nieto closed out the half for good measure with one more patented corner triple, 48-33, and the hosts were never able to come close again.

Midway through the 3rd period, Kouame flushed his frustrations at the rim with two-handed and-one jam, 58-42, after fumbling the ball at the backcourt in two consecutive possessions.

Meanwhile, Taipei-White reserve Oscar Kao caught fire from downtown and scored 12 of his team’s 17 3rd-quarter points, including a fall-away long bomb at the buzzer to cut their deficit back to 15, 52-67.

However, Philippines-Ateneo just ran away with the game in the 4th, leading by as many as 25 points, 85-60.

Kao paced the Taiwanese with 16 points, 4 rebounds and 2 steals. Lin Chun-Chi added 15 markers and 5 boards.

King Eagle Ravena collected gasps from the Chinese crowd early on in the first quarter as he made back-to-back highlight-reel buckets – first off a crafty Euro step then a timely putback dunk for a 17-10 lead. He led all Eagles in scoring with 10 points after the opening period, 26-20.

The Scores:

PH-Ateneo (87) – Ravena 17, Kouame 15, Mendoza 11, Go 10, Nieto, Ma. 8, Verano 8, Mamuyac 4, Tio 4, Asistio 3, Nieto, Mi. 3, Black 2, Navarro 2.

Taipei-White (64) – Kao 16, Chun-Chi 15, Ting-Chien 12, Chen 8, Yu-Jui 7, Po-Chih 3, Wu 2, You-Che 1, Ting-En 0, Wei-Ting 0, Ssu-Yao 0, Cheng-Sun 0.

Quarter Scores: 26-20, 48-33, 67-52, 87-64.

– Rappler.com