When Kiefer Ravena is on,
so are the Ateneo Blue Eagles, and, apparently, the same goes for Karim Abdul
and the UST Growling Tigers.
Both teams, the finalists
in Season 75, notched big wins yesterday at the Araneta Coliseum, and,
therefore, strengthened their respective drives to the Final Four.
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| Things are looking up for Gwynne Capacio, Von Pessumal, and the rest of the Blue Eagles after they get their fifth straight win. (image by Reiley Udasco/Fabilioh) |
In the first game, the
Ateneans throttled through the gates and basically left the FEU Tamaraws, who
are still sitting pretty atop the standings by the way, gasping for air. Coach
Nash Racela’s Moraytans were visibly out of it. They were probably still
recovering from their marathon 50-minute match against the UE Red Warriors this
past weekend.
It was actually FEU’s
Anthony Hargrove who opened hostilities with barely 18 seconds gone by, but
after that the Eagles tore the Green & Gold defense to shreds with a 26-9 spurt
that just left the Tamaraws stunned.
They would never recover,
and the Eagles would not relent.
Kiefer Ravena, he of the
myriad endorsements, led the way for Ateneo, scoring 8 of his 18 points in that
initial salvo. He also grabbed 3 rebounds, dished out 2 assists and had 1 steal
in the first 10 minutes, further underscoring the impression that he has made
his already sublime game even better.
The Loyola quintet also
didn’t have much trouble extending their advantage in the second quarter as
they got hefty contributions from all corners. Nico Elorde, Von Pessumal, Frank
Golla, JP Erram, Ryan Buenafe and Chris Newsome all scored in that period to
help Ateneo gain as much as a 23-point bubble. It was, however, the scorching
sniping of Juami Tiongson that really sparked the blue-hued barrage.
Tiongson, often described
as good-but-not-great by many a UAAP pundit, was firing on all cylinders. He
scored 8 straight points in a 2-minute stretch that ballooned the Ateneo lead
to 22 points with less than 3 minutes to go before the break. Coach Bo
Perasol’s wards eventually led, 51-28, at the half, but they weren’t done yet.
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| Juami Tiongson was at his magic best against FEU. (image by Reiley Udasco/Fabilioh) |
Juami, Kiefer, and the
rest of the Ateneans continued to pour it on the hapless Tamaraws, who just
couldn’t seem to get anything going. Tiongson and Ravena paired up for 16 of
Ateneo’s 22 points in the third canto, helping the Katipunan five erect an
insurmountable 33-point gap twice before the final frame began.
At this point, the result
was all but certain. The only thing people were waiting for was the final spread,
which eventually stood at 92-73. Tiongson scored a career-high 20 points to
lead all scorers. He hit 3 triples and dished out 2 dimes. Ravena, meanwhile,
canned 18 markers on top of 9 ribbies, 5 assists, and 1 steal. Clearly, when
the Phenom is at his best, he and the rest of the Blue Eagles are pretty tough
to derail. Newsome also registered a great set of stats with 11 points, 14
rebounds, and 3 assists. As a team, Ateneo shot nearly 60% from the 2-point
area, was +16 in rebounds, and +11 in assists. These all offset the Eagles’
horrible free throw shooting – 21/35, which was good for just 60%.
In contrast, the Tamaraws
were just a shell of their real selves. They shot 34.6% from the floor, 60%
from the line, and just couldn’t gain any momentum whatsoever. This is now
FEU’s third loss in the second round, and it doesn’t augur well for a team that
is fighting for one of the coveted twice-to-beat edges.
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| Terrence Romeo and the rest of the Tams had nowhere to turn for relief. |
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| Yeah, this was funny :) (image by Reiley Udasco/Fabilioh) |
In the second game, the
UST Growling Tigers leaned on a strong fourth quarter to deflate the upset
hopes of the Adamson Soaring Falcons, 80-67. The match was tight in the first
three periods before UST outscored Adamson 15-8 in the first five minutes of
the final period. That enabled the Tigers to get some much-needed separation
and simply play keep-away till the final buzzer.
With Jeric Teng still
sidelined by yet another injury, coach Pido Jarencio didn’t have much choice
but to rely on his tried-and-tested center, Karim Abdul, who didn’t disappoint
with 19 points, 12 rebounds, 4 blocks, and 2 assists. Abdul actually didn’t
shoot well from the field – only 9/24 – but his persistence, along with the
fact his teammates kept feeding him the rock, just paid off in the end. Stretch
forward Aljon Mariano also did pretty well, scoring 16 markers on top of 8
rebounds and 5 dimes, while Ed Daquioag stepped up big time with 17 points, 5
boards, 2 assists, and 2 steals.
On the other end, the
Falcons just didn’t have enough in the clutch to pull out this win. As a team,
Adamson shot only 36.5% from the field and turned the ball over 20 times. They
just committed too many miscues, and that led to this result -- their fourth
loss in the second round. Should Adamson win its last 3 games, which is highly
unlikely, they will finish at 6-8, which will probably not be enough for even a
playoff for a Final Four slot. In essence, this loss may have formally booted
them out of contention.
As for Ateneo and UST,
their wins here, coupled with UE’s loss this past weekend, increased their
chances of snaring Final Four berths. Ateneo is now tied with De La Salle at 6
wins and 4 losses, which is good enough for both schools to jointly hold onto
third place. UST, for its part, is at 5-5, just half a game behind the reeling
Red Warriors.
Things should be even more
interesting given this weekend’s pivotal games:
UE (minus Charles Mammie
& Lord Casajeros) takes on NU this Saturday, while UST battles FEU and
Ateneo squares off versus DLSU on Sunday.
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| Jericho Cruz tries to thread the needle against the UST pressure defense. |
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| Karim Abdul torched Ingrid Sewa's defense throughout the contest. |
Unless otherwise specified, all images are by Jan
Dizon/Inboundpass.com.
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