A FOURTH quarter surge sparked by Thirdy Ravena lifted the Ateneo Blue Eagles to victory over the University of the East Red Warriors (UE) in Round One of the University Athletics Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Men’s Basketball tournament.
The Blue Eagles’ win keeps their record unblemished at 4-0 to seal their spot at solo first place. On the other hand, the Red Warriors mirror Ateneo’s record at 0-4, and fall to a tie for the last seed.
Ravena dropped the final 11 points of the Blue Eagles on his way to a season-high 21 points, along with eight boards. Matt Nieto recorded his second straight game with 11 markers, while his twin brother Mike Nieto hit double figures for the first time this season with 10 points. Aaron Black also finished with 10 points off the bench for the Katipunan-based squad.
UE’s Alvin Pasaol led all scorers with 22 points, but received little help from the rest of his team. Nick Abanto was the only other Red Warrior to hit double figures with 10 points, while Clark Derige—UE’s top scorer entering the game— was limited to just six markers.
The match began with back and forth action as Olayon and Ravena traded buckets to get their teams on the board early on. An exchange of triples from Mark Maloles and Matt Nieto then kept up the scoring pace. Ateneo ended the first period on a 7-2 run, led by Black who knocked down three midrange jumpers during that stretch.
The action cooled down in the second quarter, as both teams only managed two points each in the first five minutes. This trend persisted as the period progressed, with turnovers continuing to hamper Ateneo from pulling away. The Blue Eagles stretched their lead to 10, 30-20, after an Asistio triple, but Pasaol answered back with a three of his own. Vince Tolentino then closed the low-scoring first half with a layup, 32-23.
The third quarter featured a series of runs between the teams. Maloles sparked a quick 6-0 run to begin the second half, which cut Ateneo’s lead to three points, 32-29. This proved to be the closest UE got, as a 16-4 run led by Ravena and Tolentino gave the Blue Eagles a 15-point advantage, 52-37, midway through the period. The Blue Eagles’ turnovers, combined with Pasaol’s scoring, spearheaded a 15-8 run for UE to close the period with Ateneo clinging to an eight-point lead, 60-58.
Mike Nieto hit two triples in the first four minutes of the final period, which helped give his team a double-digit lead, 70-59, that they never relinquished. Ravena then hit a triple and a floater, which extended their lead to 17. A steady stream of buckets by the athletic forward proved to be too much for UE, as the Blue Eagles were able to pull away with the win.
After the game, Assistant Coach Sandy Arespacochaga said that the Blue Eagles got complacent early on. “UE is a tough team. I guess for a minute there we fell into the trap of thinking that they are a 0-3 team,” Arespacochaga said. “In the third quarter especially we gave up 29 points against them. We knew they were a tough team. They put a lot of effort every time they play.”
The Ateneo Blue Eagles have the chance push their winning streak to five games when they face the University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers (0-4) on Wednesday, September 27 at 4PM in the Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.
Quarter Scores:
Ateneo-UE: 18-11, 32-23, 60-52, 83-65
Box Score:
Ateneo (83): Ravena – 21, J. Nieto – 11, Black – 10, M. Nieto – 10, Tolentino – 9, Asistio – 8, Verano – 4, Porter – 3, Ikeh – 2, Go – 2, Mendoza – 2, Tio – 1
UE (65): Pasaol – 22, Abanto – 10, Maloles – 9, Derige – 6, Acuno – 5, Bartolome – 4, Olayon – 4, Conner – 3, Varilla – 2
