REIGNING league MVP Kiefer Ravena shot the lights out in the first period and finished with 32 points to tow the Ateneo Blue Eagles to a 68-59 victory over the defending champions National University (NU) Bulldogs in the 78th UAAP men’s basketball tournament yesterday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Ravena sizzled from the get-go as he scored the Blue Eagles’ first 21 points spiked by six three-pointers to push his team to a 21-8 start and pave the way for their third win in a row and their seventh in 11 tries.
Von Pessumal pitched in 20 as the duo combined to score the bulk of the team’s points. Pessumal had nine in the fourth to quell a rally by the Bulldogs.
Ateneo now holds solo third place, one and a half games ahead of the idle La Salle, which sports a 5-5 (win-loss) record.
NU is now in danger of missing the Final Four as it fell to 4-7 in spite of the 17 points of Gelo Alolino and the 10-point, 14-rebound of Alfred Aroga.
In the second game, the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Growling Tigers secured a place in the Final Four with an 83-76 win over the University of the Philippines (UP) Fighting Maroons.
The win was UST secured its ninth in 11 games, thanks to the 29 points and 14 boards of Kevin Ferrer.
UP, which got 21 from Jett Manuel and 10 from Cebuano Paul Desiderio, fell to 3-7.
THE SCORES
ATENEO 68)—Ravena 32, Pessumal 20, Ikeh 4, A. Tolentino 3, V. Tolentino 3, Wong 3, Black 2, Ma. Nieto 1, Babilonia 0, Cani 0, Capacio 0, Gotladera 0, Go 0.
NU (59)—Alolino 17, Aroga 10, Javillonar 8, Celda 7, Diputado 7, Neypes 4, Alejandro 3, Javelona 3, Rangel 0, Tansingco 0, Yu 0.QUARTERSCORES: 24-16; 38-35; 52-47; 68-59.
Disclaimer: The comments uploaded on this site do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of management and owner of Cebudailynews. We reserve the right to exclude comments that we deem to be inconsistent with our editorial standards.
