THE ATENEO Blue Eagles aim to end the year with a bang as they gun for the title in the 2012 Philippine Collegiate Champions League (PCCL) when they battle their nemesis the University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers in the deciding Game Three today at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig.
Ateneo was able to bounce back from their 76-82 loss in the opener of this series with a thrilling 70-69 win in Game Two to force the rubbermatch for the title.
After winning their fifth straight UAAP crown at the expense of the Tigers earlier this year, the Blue Eagles try to put one more over their vaunted rivals as they aim to give their seniors, namely Cebuano big man Greg Slaughter and Nico Salva, a fitting parting present.
The Blue Eagles were able to hack out the series-tying win because of the stellar play of “The Phenom,” Kiefer Ravena, who pounced on a costly defensive lapse by the Tigers to break away for the uncontested layup with 11.4 seconds left in the game. He finished with 21 points.
Slaughter and Tonino Gonzaga also played key roles in that victory with 14 and 13 points, respectively.
UST is raring for revenge for their UAAP finals loss and will be leaning on their talented crew led by UAAP MVP runner-up Karim Abdul, Jeric Teng, Aljon Mariano, Jeric Fortuna and Kevin Ferrer. /Correspondent Jonas Panerio