With their Final Four hopes on the line, the UE Red Warriors leaned on Clark Derige and Chris Javier to survive a furious second half run by the ADMU Blue Eagles as they picked up a 74-69 victory earlier today at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Derige continued his torrid second round tear with 17 points and five rebounds while the veteran big man Javier added 13 points and five rebounds.
“Tinetake advantage of the playing time at kumpiyansa lang na binigay ni coach sa akin,” shared Derige after the game.
RR de Leon and Bonbon Batiller chipped in with 10 and nine points, respectively, off the bench. UE’s bench outscored their Ateneo counterparts, 30-24.
Ateneo’s rally was led by Kiefer Ravena who scored 25 of his 28 points in the second half. Ravena also had four rebounds and four assists while shooting 50 percent from the field. Fellow senior Von Pessumal added 10 while rookie guard Aaron Black scored eight points and collected nine rebounds.
The Red Warriors entered halftime with a nine point lead after limiting the Blue Eagles to just five points in the second period. UE then led by as much as 14 points in the third quarter, but Ateneo went on a 26-10 run bridging the third and fourth quarters to take a four point lead, 57-53, with over seven minutes left to play.
However, the Red Warriors showed poise and escaped with the win through the efforts of Derige and Javier. The Blue Eagles end the elimination round with a 9-5 record and will enter the Final Four as the third seed.
With the win, the Red Warriors now sport a 5-8 win-loss card and are still alive in the race for the last Final Four slot. In order to qualify, UE must win their last elimination round game, which will be against the UP Fighting Maroons on November 18, while the DLSU Green Archers and the NU Bulldogs must lose their remaining games. A three-way tie will then be forged and the teams will have a playoff for the last semifinal berth.
“Whatever the outcome will be, the most important thing will be how we end the season. We have to end the season on a strong note. We’re going all out on Wednesday,” said UE head coach Derrick Pumaren.
