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Ateneo routs NU despite Parks' 20-point effort


The spotlight aimed at two of the highly-touted rookies this UAAP season, Ateneo's Kiefer Ravena and National University's Bobby Ray Parks Jr., didn’t last long. Though NU's prized rookie had seven more points than his fellow neophyte at Ateneo, in their much-awaited face-off, Parks' efforts were not enough as the Bulldogs got clobbered by the four-peat seeking Blue Eagles.

Ateneo's Kiefer Ravena (left) tries to get past the defense of NU's Bobby Ray Parks in their game in the 74th UAAP men's basketball tournament at the Araneta Colieum on Thursday. KC Cruz
The Blue Eagles quickly diffused the match-up between the league's top rookies with defense and team play in posting an 86-62 rout Thursday in the 74th UAAP men's basketball tournament at the Araneta Coliseum. The Ravena-Parks face-off became history quick after the Blue Eagles scored a series of 10 and 11 unanswered points in the first and second periods, respectively. The trend continued in the third canto as Ateneo zoomed to a 69-37 lead, the biggest of the game. Ateneo coach Norman Black said that they did a good job defending NU's offense, which is built around Parks. "We just wanted to stay in front of their dribble-drive offense. They do a good job of penetrating so individually, we have to stay in front of our men and force them to shoot outside," said Black. "On offense, we just want to run. We looked at the stats and saw that they were giving a lot of fastbreak points so we just have to control the defensive boards and run at every opportunity." First-year players Greg Slaughter and Ravena conspired with veterans Nico Salva and Kirk Long to power the Blue Eagles' balanced-offense in securing their third straight win. Slaughter had 15 points, seven rebounds and two blocks while Ravena added 13 points, three rebounds and three assists. Salva had a double-double finish with 12 markers and 10 boards. Long, a member of the Ateneo's three-peat squad, tallied 11 points and had seven assists but more importantly he hounded Parks on offense the entire game.
NU's Bobby Ray Parks Jr. (left) shields the ball away from the defense of Ateneo's Kirk Long in their game in the 74th UAAP men's basketball tournament at the Araneta Colieum on Thursday. Jeff Venancio
"(Long) did a good job defending against Parks. I don't think we can really stop him but at the same time the goal was just to slow him down," said Black. Parks scored 20 points but had to earn every basket against Long's leech-like defense as he was held to three points in the first half and a combined eight markers in the first three quarters. Joshua Alolino had 11 points while Emmanuel Mbe had 10 points but saw limited action because of four fouls. The Blue Eagles had 30 assists against the Bulldgos to tie Far Eastern University's record for most in a single game in the 2003 season. It was also Ateneo's seventh straight double digit victory over NU since the Bulldogs defeated the Blue Eagles in Season 70, the last time the Sampaloc-based cagers defeated their opponents from Katipunan. NU scored a 96-88 overtime win against Ateneo on September 15, 2007. Ateneo slowly built a 14-5 spread after NU enjoyed a 5-4 lead behind Parks' three-pointer. NU answered with a 7-2 spurt to cut the deficit to four points, 16-12. After a 21-17 lead, Slaughter, Salva and Oping Sumalinog combined forces to hike Ateneo's advantage to 32-17. Salva ended the run with a basket after an offensive rebound by pint-sized point guard Emman Monfort. Ravena and Long took turns scooting for fastbreak points as the first half ended at 38-20. The Blue Eagles faced little opposition after that with Juami Tiongson hitting a triple just before the third quarter buzzer for a 69-37 advantage. – Reuben Terrado/RF/JVP, GMA News
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