Kiefer Ravena fakes of Roger Pogoy
The last time the
Ateneo Blue Eagles had brothers donning the Blue and White uniform was in
the 1996 season when the Sison twins helped the Blue Eagles in the dark ages of Ateneo basketball. Last sunday, the Blue Brothers Kiefer and Thirdy Ravena combined for 27 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists to help the Ateneo Blue Eagles bounce back from a loss to the NU Bulldogs and beat a never say die FEU Tamaraws team 81 - 78. The win put the Blue Eagles in solo second place with two more games remaining in the first round of season 77 of the UAAP.
The Ravena Brothers
Kiefer Ravena and Chris Newsome both
bounced back from their subpar performance against the NU Bulldogs and led the
Blue Eagle's balanced attack against an FEU team that never gave up until the
last second of the ballgame. Ravena scored 23 points, 10 more than his previous outing, issued 7 assists and pulled down 5 rebounds for another all around game that saw him nail down the crucial basket during crunch time. In the final 3 minutes with the Blue Eagles just on top by 2, 68 - 66, Ravena scored on a jumper, a three - pointer and two free throws to give the Eagles a 75 - 66 lead with 1:12 to go in the game to give the team in Blue the needed separation before a searing rally by the tamaraws that eventually fell short.
Chris Newsome & Nico Elorde bounced back from subpar games
Chris Newsome started the offense for the Blue Eagles as he scored on jumpers to keep the Blue Eagles withing striking distance of the tams who went inside the paint courtesy of Anthony Hargrove. Newsome scored 17 points on 7 of 9 shooting and also pulled down 7 rebounds. Point Guard Nico Elorde had 5 assists and finally got his offense going as he scored 12 points which came mostly on passes by Kiefer when he was double teamed. Von Pessumal on the other hand erupted in the second half as he scored 9 points in the third quarter after having a hard time heating up in the first half. The three definitely gave Kiefer the needed help in scoring.
Von Pessumal on the drive
Super rookie Arvin Tolentino's game unfortunately took a day off as he went 1 of 10 from the field as he scored on a three pointer and two free throws. However, the revelation of the day came from the former Juniors UAAP MVP Thjirdy Ravena who scored 4 memorable big points. Given more time to play, Thirdy made the most out of his time as he stymied FEU's Mike Tolomia in the time that he was on the floor. His defense made it hard for Tolomia to score which the Blue Eagles used to their advantage that helped in giving enough separation for the Ateneo team. One rookie goes down, another one rises up to the occasion. Come the second round, his grit, defense and confidence will be needed for the Blue Eagles to go all the way. Special mention also goest o Gwyne Capacio who only played 8 minutes but scoed 5 important points, had 2 rebounds and a block shot. The Blue Eagles are definitely on the right track for a final four spot.
Kiefer on a fadeaway
Ateneo (81)
K. Ravena 23, Newsome 17, Elorde12, Pessumal 12, A. Tolentino 5, Capacio 5, T. Ravena 4, Gotladera 2, V. Tolentino 1, Babilonia 0, Apacible 0
FEU (78)
Belo 22, Tolomia 15, Hargrove 13, Pogoy 8, Dennison 5, Cruz 4, Jose 4, Tamsi 4, Iñigo 3, Escoto Rus. 0, Escoto Ric. 0
Quarter scores: 14 - 16, 35 - all, 58 - 54, 81 - 78
Thanks to Arvin Lim and Raddy Mabasa for their great pictures of the Blue Eagles
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