No less than a gripping match that would go down the wire was expected in a batlle of the top two teams in the top collegiate conferences in the country.

The Blue Eagles grabbed the first win of the 2011 Filoil Flying V Hanes Pre-Season Premier Cup on Saturday at The Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan City with a hairline 90-87 win over former National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) archrival San Beda College.

What was initially anticipated as a battle between the top two rookies of this year’s crop, namely that of Baser Amer and Kiefer Ravena, it turns out to be a one-sided battle in favor of Ravena.

The former member of the country’s youth program as well as Ateneo’s high school ranks came off the bench for Norman Black and produced 25 big points with 4 assists. Veteran forward Nico Salva added 21 points and 6 rebounds to their cause.

But no performance was as big, literally, than that of transferee Greg Slaughter, a member of the Smart-Gilas Pilipinas national team from University of Visayas and will be playing out his only year of eligibility in a Blue Eagle uniform this upcoming University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) season.

His imposing presence gave him the license to push his weight in the paint and kept the San Beda big men at bay with ease. The big men in red shirts tried all their best in pushing and shoving the behemoth, but it was simply to no avail as he went on his way to a team-high of 26 points in 30 productive minutes off the bench.

The heavy favorites to retain their titles in their respective leagues did no less than fight a nip-and-tuck battle throughout the first 19 minutes, before the rookie guard dubbed as “The Phenom” buried a fallaway bucket with 4 seconds left in the half to give the Blue Eagles a two point lead at the break, 41-39.

Then the newcomer in the number 15 jersey goes up for the first two points of the second half to give them the much needed push to take control with a 53-47 lead and hence tie the biggest lead they set back in the second period at 31-25 on a Nico Salva basket after a key Red Lions substitution that brought back Amer, Garvo Lanete, and Rome Dela Rosa into the game.

From there, the Blue Eagles managed to push the lead to its highest at 11 points by the tail end of the third.

Meanwhile, another San Beda newcomer in the form of new starting big man Ola Adeogun was used as the counter-attack for the high flying Eagles’ surge. He produced 11 of his game-high of 30 points in the third to keep the sinking Lions afloat.

He continued his dominance in the post during the crucial early stages of the fourth, connecting on the Bedans’ first four points of the period before picking up his fourth foul with less than a minute having gone by that glued him to the bench.

Things could have gotten worse in a scenario that sums up a San Beda fan’s worst nightmare at the 6:08 mark: on a botched eye in the sky play, Sudan Daniel landed awkwardly at the basket’s stanchion and grimaced in pain right after the impact. The arena momentarily fell silent until the 6-foot-9 American stood up to his feet and partially limped back to the bench and heard the worst from his worried coach.

In his place, Garvo Lanete sprung back into action and provided a quick five point swing that was followed by a Melo Lim trey that tied the ballgame at 74 with half of the period to go in what was to be a classic of epic proportions.

Missed foul shots started to haunt the Red Lions, with Adeogun and Lanete splitting three trips to the foul line which could have kept the game closer as Ravena and Slaughter was doing their damage on the other end of the floor.

The rookie duo connected on the most memorable play of the game, with Ravena running from both ends of the floor and would find a trailing Slaughter for a two-handed jam that sent the blue side of the gym into pandemonium and gave the Eagles a comfortable five point advantage.

Before anyone could say “game over,” Ola Adeogun finished on a three point play conversion to keep their fine feathered foes within reach at 85-87. Then, a split from Kirk Long at the foul line saved the game for the Lions, giving them a one possession game.

On the insuing play off the timeout, Melo Lim converted off Adeogun’s save that sent him to the photographer’s row at courtside for one of his two assists in the afternoon to stay alive.

But with no timeouts remaining and only 4.1 seconds left, the red shirts had no option but to run down the length of the floor and hope for the best. Lim threw up a desperation trey from the right arc but only drew iron as time expired.

Garvo Lanete errupted for 15 points in the contest, while Melo Lim had a breakout performance in a San Beda uniform with 10.

GAME NOTES:
Third quarter scoring
Ateneo zoomed ahead in the third period by outscoring San Beda, 27-19. Greg Slaughter and Nico Salva had eight points apiece, while Kiefer Ravena added 6. The trio accounted for 22 of the team’s total in the period.

Battle of the boards
The basketball adage of “who wins the battle of the boards wins the game” did not apply in this close match. The Red Lions had more rebounds (45 total; 22 offensive) than the Blue Eagles (37 total; 18 offensive). Surprisingly, the 6-foot-11 Slaughter only managed to wrest two rebounds, as compared to his San Beda counterpart Ola Adeogun, who grabbed 13.

Missed foul shots
For Ateneo, Kirk Long was an uncharacteristic 1-for-4 from the 15 foot line, where he averages above 80 percent in his career. Two of those missed foul shots came at a crucial point in the final quarter where the Katipunan quintet held on to a slim one point lead at 75-74 with 4:01 left. The former Faith Academy Vanguard finished with only three points.

The boys from Mendiola had it worse, as four missed foul shots, three coming from Adeogun, in the fourth made the difference between winning and losing the match

Rookie Watch
Kiefer Ravena was nearly flawless from the field (11-for-14; 79 percent) in 25 minutes of action off the bench, which helped the cause for the Katipunan five specially in the pivotal third quarter. His counterpart on the other side of the court, Baser Amer, had the classic case of the rookie jitters and only managed to score four points on an anemic 1-for-5 (20 percent)

Sleeping Giant
The 2010 NCAA MVP could not get his game going in just a quarter’s worth of play against Ateneo’s big men that included the likes of Slaughter, JP Erram, and Frank Golla. He only managed to put up 5 points and had the same amount of boards before being benched by coach Frankie Lim after the cringe-worthy incident near the midway point of the fourth.

Wildcards
Tonino Gonzaga and Melo Lim showed their respective improved play after years of being understudies. Most of the damage they both produced were of the intangible kind, namely those little activities on the court that could not be jotted down on the stat sheets. Lim even had the chance of knocking down the game-tying trey at the last second that fell short. Watch out for the two in the upcoming college cage wars.

Ejected
San Beda’s Elvin Jake Pascual, known for his hard-nosed defense, was sent to the showers at the 1:06 mark of the third period due to a tussle between him and Ateneo center JP Erram. The former PCU standout was slapped with a disqualifying foul, while Erram was slapped with an unsportsmanlike foul (Penalty 1).