Photo by Pia B. Guballa
THE LAST time the Ateneo Blue Eagles met archrivals the La Salle Green Archers in the Final Four was in Season 70, where the Archers triumphed and went on to win the title.
In this 75th season of the UAAP, however, the Blue and White won the most anticipated matchup against their rival by the skin of their teeth, 66-63, on September 29 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum to secure their fifth straight finals appearance.
Ateneo took the early lead in the first quarter and made it 4-0 after Kiefer Ravena’s jumper from the top of the key. Led by Jeron Teng, La Salle rallied to tie the score at 6-6 at the 7:20 mark.
The Green Archers took the lead care of a three-pointer from Thomas Torres, but Ravena swung the advantage back to the Ateneo a minute later, 10-9. Later, Almond Vosotros continued his prolific shooting from a three-point range and handed La Salle the lead with over three minutes remaining, 12-10. Nico Salva then tied the score once more, 12-all, with his deadly accuracy from the perimeter.
The Green Archers found themselves in the penalty early on, but Ateneo could not take advantage of their charities, with Greg Slaughter and Oping Sumalinog both missing from the stripe.
A Justin Chua conversion with 44 seconds left in the first quarter was the last hoop for both teams as the quarter ended with Ateneo ahead, 14-12.
The second quarter was a rather tight affair as both teams were unable to breakaway.
A three by Ravena tied the game once more, but Vosotros answered with a three of his own. Juami Tiongson, however, drained another three on the other side that tied the scores to 26-26. Salva’s jumper broke the deadlock with a little over two minutes remaining, 28-26, to give Ateneo a tight lead.
Former King Eaglet Ravena split his free throws and put back his own miss on the next possession to give Ateneo a five-point advantage, 31-26, at halftime.
La Salle returned from the break as the aggressor, going on a 9-2 run in the first five minutes of the third quarter, which was capped off with a layup from former La Salle Green Hills standout T. Torres that gave the Green Archers the lead, 35-33.
However, Oping Sumalinog converted a three-pointer on the other end to put the Eagles back up, 35-35. La Salle answered by going on a 12-2 run to end the third quarter. Center Norbert Torres converted his free throws at the end of the quarter to give La Salle a nine-point lead, 47-38, going into the last quarter.
The Green Archers extended their lead to 51-41 with just under nine minutes to go. It seemed that La Salle was in complete control, as the Eagles could not score. The feisty defense of Yutien Andrada and Arnold Van Opstal made life miserable for Greg Slaughter, who was zero from the field for the first three quarters.
From that point on, it was Ravena who drove the team to victory. The Phenom singlehandedly brought Ateneo back into contention, going on a solo 9-4 run that put the Blue Eagles to within two points, 55-53 with 4:40 left on the clock. Tiongson tied the proceedings up with help from Ravena, who then converted a three that suddenly put the Katipunan-based squad up, 58-55.
Unfazed, Vosotros put his team back on top, 62-61, by exploding for five straight points with 1:11 left.
This time, it was Vosotros’ former San Sebastian teammate Buenafe who buried his sole three-pointer of the game with less than a minute left to return the lead to Ateneo, 64-62.
Things suddenly went awry as Ravena was tagged with an unsportsmanlike foul after he tried to stop Teng from scoring on the break. Teng split his free throws, but possession remained with La Salle.
In the succeeding inbound play, Teng mishandled the ball on his way to the basket. The La Salle side insisted that Teng was fouled en route, but nothing was called. With three seconds left on the clock, La Salle fouled Buenafe, who made both his charities and sealed the win, 66-63.
Ravena had a memorable outing, tallying a career-high 28 points, 12 rebounds and 6 assists. He scored 16 points in the fourth quarter alone. Salva added 12 points, and Slaughter had only 4 points but hauled down 10 boards.
Yutien Andrada scored a career-high 17 points together with 3 blocks. Vosotros added 14 points.
“It should be a very good series,” commented Coach Norman Black about their finals matchup with UST, “I think both games will be decided by one or two points.”
The Ateneo Blue Eagles will face the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Growling Tigers in the UAAP Season 75 finals. It is a rematch of the 2006 UAAP Finals where Black and the Blue Eagles lost to then first-time UST head coach Pido Jarencio in a maxed-out series. This series is very special for Black as he is appearing in his fifth and last UAAP Finals against the team that denied him his first title.
Game 1 of the UAAP Finals will be on Saturday, October 6, 4:00 PM at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
Updated September 30, 2012, 1:44 AM
Box scores:
Ateneo 66 – Ravena 28, Salva 12, Buenafe 10, Tiongson 5, Slaughter 4, Chua 4, Sumalinog 3
La Salle 63 – Andrada 17, Vosotros 14, Teng 12, N. Torres 6, T. Torres 5, Tampus 4, van Opstal 3, Mendoza 3
