Thirdy Ravena fired a season-best 23 points as Ateneo clipped Adamson, 80-74, to clinch a playoff in the Final Four of the UAAP Season 82 Men's Basketball Tournament Wednesday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The two-time Finals MVP broke through the 20-point barrier, becoming the first player from the Katipunan side to do so, while also collecting five assists and four rebounds to stay immaculate at 9-0.
Will Navarro also did his damage with 11 points, eight boards, and four blocks, Mike Nieto added 11 points and five assists, and Matthew Daves scored a career-high 10 points and six rebounds for Ateneo, which has now gone unbeaten in the UAAP for over a year.
The win didn't come easy, though, with Adamson keeping itself in step in the first half.
"We really survived Adamson in the end," said coach Tab Baldwin. "We made a lot of bonehead plays. There’s no excuse for that. We have to practice those kinds of situations. We didn’t perform well in that scenario in either end. We have to figure out how to be good in either situation."
Leading by 15, 67-52, with 8:36 left, the Blue Eagles saw the Soaring Falcons trim the deficit down to three, 77-74, courtesy of a Joshua Yerro lay-up with 8.9 ticks remaining.
But Ateneo was just too poise, with Nieto and Adrian Wong canning their freebies to end the game.
It was a huge sigh of relief for the blue side after staring at a 37-34 halftime deficit.
"I think we were patchy in the first half," said Baldwin as the Blue Eagles broke off from a 50-48 affair with a 13-2 stretch to grab a 63-50 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
"But in the third quarter, we came out with some purpose."
Valandre Chauca and Jerrick Ahanmisi both had 17 points in the losing cause for Adamson, which incurred its fourth straight loss to drop to a 3-6 card.
The Scores:
ADMU 80 -- Ravena 23, Navarro 11, Ma. Nieto 11, Daves 10, Go 7, Kouame 7, Mi. Nieto 7, Mamuyac 3, Wong 1, Belangel 0, Maagdenberg 0, Tio 0.
ADU 74 -- Ahanmisi 17, Chauca 17, Douanga 13, Yerro 12, Camacho 6, Manlapaz 5, Lastimosa 4, Fermin 0, Flowers 0, Magbuhos 0, Mojica 0.
Quarterscores: 22-18, 34-37, 63-50, 80-74.