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MANILA, Philippines – Kiefer Ravena carried the weight of Ateneo de Manila University’s 5-peat drive on his back and came out victorious.
The sophomore guard fired a career-high 28 points to lead the Blue Eagles to a heart-stopping 66-63 victory over arch rival De La Salle University, sending them into the finals of the 75th UAAP men’s basketball tournament Saturday, September 29, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Left out of the Mythical Five this year after making it last season, Ravena proved naysayers wrong, singlehandedly steering the 4-time defending champions in a thrilling run that saw Ateneo claw back from a 10-point deficit.
“Syempre Final Four na, we really had to go the extra mile,” Ravena, who rifled in 4 triples and hauled down 12 rebounds, said. “Sinabi ko lang sa sarili ko na yaw ko magpatalo.” (Of course, it’s the final four–we have to go the extra mile. I told myself that I didn’t want to lose.)
With the Green Archers threatening to break the game wide open after a Yutien Andrada jumper made it 51-41, Ravena went on a rampage — scoring on layups, three-pointers and free-throws to help the Eagles take a 61-57 lead with over a minute left in the game.
He also took care of the boards and the Katipunan-based squad’s passing chores, dishing out assists to Greg Slaughter and Juami Tiongson as Ateneo kept their historic streak of finals appearances alive.
Five straight points by Almond Vosotros gave La Salle back the driver’s seat, 62-61, with 1:11 remaining on the clock but Ryan Buenafe responded with a triple to hand Ateneo the lead for good, 64-62.
But Ravena’s heroics were almost put to waste after a controversial unsportsmanlike foul called on the sophomore guard gave the Archers one last gasp.
Rookie Jeron Teng split his charities with 15.6 seconds remaining but the forward turned the ball over while driving to the hoop with 3.4 ticks left, effectively sealing the doom of the Archers.
“It was a great fight,” Ravena added.
Nico Salva waxed hot in the first two periods with 12 points while Buenafe assisted Ravena in finishing La Salle off with six of his 10 markers in the final quarter.
Meanwhile, Andrada played his best game of the season and tallied 17 points, 6 rebounds and 3 blocks while shooting an amazing 87.5% from the field.
Almond Vosotros added 14 markers, 6 boards and 7 assists, as Teng started quick but struggled the rest of the way to post 12 points, 7 rebounds and 4 dimes.
ADMU, 66: Ravena 28, Salva 12, Buenafe 10, Tiongson 5, Slaughter 4, Chua 4, Sumalinog 3, Pessumal 0, Gonzaga 0, Golla 0, Elorde 0
DLSU, 63: Andrada 17, Vosotros 14, Teng 12, N. Torres 6, T. Torres 5, Tampus 4, Van Opstal 3, Mendoza 2, Webb 0, Revilla 0
Quarter scoring: 14-12, 31-26, 38-47, 66-63
For more on UAAP Season 75, read:
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