It seemed that the De La Salle Green Archers were on their way to an upset, with the triumvirate of Yutien Andrada, Almond Vosotros, and Norbert Torres wreaking havoc on both ends of the floor in a euphoric third quarter blitz.

Then Kiefer and Buenafe happened.

Second-generation hoops star Kiefer Ravena poured 16 points while Ryan Buenafe displayed clutch shooting anew in a game that mattered most for the Blue Eagles, a final four showdown against their arch rivals, escaping the returning Archers in a controversial windup, 66-63, yesterday in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) men’s basketball final four at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

After scoring selectively in the first three quarters, last year’s rookie of the year went amok in the first eight minutes of the fourth quarter, firing three treys, sinking hard drives, and issued nifty passes to his teammates to reverse La Salle’s nine-point third quarter lead.

Then after a Vosotros three that put La Salle ahead, 62-61, at the 1:43 minute mark of the game, Buenafe, playing the entire game as a defender against rookie of the year Jeron Teng, unleashed a cold-blooded corner trey with 55 seconds remaining to put the Eagles on top, 64-62.

Then after a series of controversial action, which included a flagrant foul call against Ravena on Teng, and an out-of-bounds La Salle possession called in favor of Ateneo, Buenafe cooly swished the final free throws of the game to seal the finals slot for the defending four-time champions.

“The change in defense in the fourth quarter worked out for us,” coach Norman Black, working on his final season for the Eagles, commented after the game. “We took out their guys coming off the screen in their pick and rolls, which killed us in the third quarter.”

It was an offensive outburst and a defensive lockdown though for Gang Green in the third quarter, as Andrada benefited from pick and roll plays anchored on Torres and initiated by Vosotros.

Torres, coming off a 21 point output against the Tamaraws in the knockout match for fourth, held his own defensively, shutting down the much taller Greg Slaughter in the first three quarters while big men Andrada and Arnold van Opstal helped the Bear in defending the post.

“Tulong-tulong lang kami in the last six minutes,” Ravena said. “La Salle’s defense was so tight that our only resort was to attack the basket and shoot aggressively.”

Ravena led the Blue Eagles with a career-high 28 points, 11 rebounds, and seven assists. Nico Salva added 12 points, all scored in the first half, while Buenafe scored 10.

Andrada meanwhile led the Archers with a season-high 17 points and three blocks, while Vosotros had 14 points, six rebounds, and seven assists.

The Blue Eagles will meet the University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers on Saturday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

The scores:
Ateneo (66) – Ravena 28, Salva 12, Buenafe 10, Tiongson 5, Slaughter 4, Chua 4, Sumalinog 3, Elorde 0, Gonzaga 0, Golla 0, Pessumal 0.

La Salle (63) – Andrada 17, Vosotros 14, Teng 12, N. Torres 6, T. Torres 5, Tampus 4, Van Opstal 3, Mendoza 2, Revilla 0, Webb 0.

Quarter scores: 14-12, 31-26, 38-47, 66-63