THE ATENEO Blue Eagles defeated University of the Philippines (UP), 56-43 on Wednesday, September 30 at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

Among the starters, it was Von Pessumal who waxed hot early on, scoring six of the Ateneo’s first eight points on his way to a team-high of 11 points. Despite an off-shooting night, Kiefer Ravena still managed to contribute 11 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and two steals.

“Von and I just want to do everything to help the team win, whether it’s [to] make baskets, grab rebounds, get steals, play defense,” Ravena said of both him and his teammate’s performance. “Siguro ‘yun yung mentality namin (I guess that was our mentality).”

However, it was the bench of Ateneo that managed to break away from the Fighting Maroons. John Apacible and Arvin Tolentino, in particular, were sparkplugs off the bench with eight points apiece. Meanwhile, Jerie Pingoy orchestrated the bench offense masterfully by finishing with five assists. Center Ikeh Chibueze also pitched in on the boards, grabbing a game-high 16 rebounds.

“We can always start good with Von, Kiefer, and all our bigs, but what’s important is those guys who are coming off the bench,” Ateneo Head Coach Bo Perasol said. “If you can get production from Apacible, Hubert Cani, Koko [Pingoy], those guys can really help us.”

The Fighting Maroons started out strong in the fourth quarter as they threatened to come back and steal the game away. In the end however, UP only managed to cut the lead down to 12.

Paul Desiderio and Dave Moralde scored 12 and nine points, respectively, for the Fighting Maroons while Jerson Prado supplemented their performance with eight points and 11 rebounds.

This win puts the Blue Eagles at 4-2 in the elimination round standings of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines.

Their next game will be against rival De La Salle University, 4 PM, Sunday, October 4 at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.