Ravena takes charge as Eaglets near 3-peat

MANILA, Philippines - Ateneo banked on Kiefer Ravena’s brilliant all-around game to beat University of Santo Tomas, 76-66, and move one win away from completing a three-peat in the UAAP Season 73 juniors basketball tournament at the Araneta Coliseum.

Ravena erupted for 32 points, five rebounds, eight assists, two steals and one shot block as the Blue Eaglets bounced back from their 71-77 setback at the start of the finals last Tuesday, their first since going 14-0 in the elims and making the championship round outright.

“Our energy was a little low last time and the players were somewhat rusty, having rested for two weeks . But that’s not an excuse, we have to give credit to UST, they really played hard that time and were well-coached,” said Ateneo coach Jamike Jarin, whose wards will gun for the title on Sunday.

“And because we lost, we came out hungrier and played with more intensity today (yesterday),” he added. “And our championship experience worked for us.”

On his fourth finals stint, Ravena took charge for the Eaglets and led a 23-5 assault that gave the Eaglets a 38-31 upperhand in the second quarter after falling behind by 11 at 15-26.

The son of ex-PBA star Bong Ravena continued to pour in the points (13) in the third and joined forces with fellow veterans Von Pessumal and Charles Dumrique to give AdMU a 71-57 lead with 1:26 left.

“Kiefer Ravena makes me look good, he makes the team look good. I give it to him, he’s highly motivated, being on his final year, and we really expect those things from him.,” Jarin said.”But I really feel in my heart that is not a Kiefer Ravena team.”

The Eaglets shackled UST star Kevin Ferrer to a mere nine points on 2-of-6 shooting, two days after the soon-to-be-named MVP exploded with 35 points.

With Ferrer silent, Ismael Corre (25) and Airon Cabauatan (16) took the scoring cudgels for UST, which played without the suspended Jaypee Sarcia.