Slaughter & Ravena tow Ateneo to a win over SBC

Slaughter & Ravena tow Ateneo to a win over SBC

by Mia Domingo and Rick Olivares

photo by Brosi Gonzales

April 9, 2011

San Juan Arena

With less than 50 seconds left, Kiefer Ravena was isolated against a much taller Rome Dela Rosa. He drove to the basket, faked a teardrop, and instead lobbed the ball for Greg Slaughter for a monstrous jam.

Three-peat UAAP Champion Ateneo paraded a new look lineup bannered by former Ateneo High School standout Ravena and long-time Smart Gilas center Slaughter and in the opening game of the 2011 Fil-Oil Flying-V Pre-season Hanes Premiere Cup as they turned back reigning NCAA Champion San Beda, 90-87. 

But another rookie did not allow Ravena to have all the fun. Slaughter, honing his chops in the current PBA Commissioner’s Cup where the Nationals are in the semifinals with a 7-2 record, top-scored for Ateneo with 26 points despite grabbing only two boards. 

San Beda, on the other hand, also had their blue chip rookies stealing the show from the veterans. Ola Adeogun, a Cameroon native, provided quality minutes and more reason for the Mendiola faithful to dream of another undefeated season en route to a 16^th league crown.

The Red Lions' two other rookies are Paolo Pontejos from their training pool and the other is Baser Amer, where in an MVP season he led the Red Cubs to a championship for first year head coach Brit Reroma.  

Living up to the hype of the next basketball superstar, Ravena sizzled with 25 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals to keep the spirits of the Ateneo gallery up all game long. 

With the game close in the first half, the Blue Eagles turned things around in the third when they posted their biggest lead at 66-54 behind Ravena, Slaughter, and senior Nico Salva.

But as any Ateneo-San Beda encounter, there were some sparks particularly when SBC’s Jake Pascual was involved in an altercation with AdMU center JP Erram that resulted in the former’s ejection late in the third. 

Pascual’s ejection lit a spark under the Red Lions whose searing 16-6 run notched the count at 74-all with 5:18 remaining in the game. The rally was punctuated by a booming trey from Melo Lim, the son of San Beda head coach Frankie Lim but the Eagles icily retook the lead.

An and-one Adeogun put the Red Lions once more within striking distance 85-87 with17.9 seconds left to play but Slaughter added two points from the stripe for the Eagles with 4.1 seconds remaining. Melo Lim threw up a long shot but his desperation triple at the buzzer missed to give Ateneo it’s second consecutive opening day win over San Beda in the Fil-Oil tournament.

As it was during last year’s opening tiff, the Blue Eagles were down early to San Beda in the first quarter. But a rally and some terrific defense saw the Loyola Heights five post a win that saw them go all the way to the semifinals (where they were ousted by Adamson). In the 2011 tourney opener, Ateneo went down 12-4 early in the first period before they blanked San Beda to forge an 18-all tied after 10 minutes of play.

Ateneo Coach Norman Black has always been vocal that during summer leagues, he always makes it a point to give fair playing time for his players. He thanked Ravena, his prized recruit, for the production he made in his college debut.

Ravena on the other hand said that he didn't have a hard time shifting from high school to college basketball because his teammates helped make the transition a smooth one.

Ola Adeogun, in a frightening glimpse to come for NCAA foes, led all scorers with 30 points  while hauling down 13 rebounds.

Ateneo 90 -- Slaughter 26, Ravena 25, Salva 21, Gonzaga 7, Erram 5, Long 3, Golla 2, Austria 1, Monfort 0, Chua 0

San Beda 87 -- Adeogun 30, Lanete 15, Lim 10, A. Semerad 8, Marcelo 6, Daniel 5, Amer 4, J. Pascual 4, dela Rosa 3, Pontejos 2, VIllahermosa 0, K. Pascual 0, Caram 0

Quarter Scores: 18-18, 41-39, 68-58, 90-87.