Green Day: DLSU stuns Ateneo as Perasol loses the plot
I've been watching Ateneo-De La Salle games since the late 80s. Sunday's game is one I will not forget, and perhaps for the wrong reasons.
Jeron Teng's game-winner will long live in the memory of Green Archers fans. It was the sweetest of short stabs against Chris Newsome to cap the 66 to 64 victory. The second-year player has his iconic moment against the Blue Eagles. He and DLSU fans will savor this forever.
It was a fitting end to an enthralling game of Basketball played in front of a massive crowd in the Araneta Coliseum. It was also one that Kiefer Ravena and the Eagles let slip by.
I saw Ravena enter the stadium two hours before the game. He was wearing a rather unusual combo, gray camouflage jacket, red cap, and teal backpack as he crossed himself in front of the large wooden crucifix by the south entrance. The backpack's zipper was open, so I called his attention to it and zipped it up for him.
Ravena's performance on Sunday was, like his pre-match outfit, a mixed bag. He came up with big plays, like the 64-64 tying basket, off the glass, while seemingly losing the handle TWICE on the ball.
ALSO READ: Tigers squeak past Tams in 2OT thriller.
In the third quarter he nailed a huge trey with one second on the shot clock over Almond Vosotros' fingers. Earlier still, in the second quarter, he pirouetted around his marker and deftly banked in an attempt from close range.
Then there was the bad. Kiefer's output, twelve points, wasn't up to his usual standards, especially for a big game. He turned the ball over five times, more than any player. Ravena muffed five of his six three pointers and only hit three of eight from the stripe.
Meanwhile De La Salle's big guns delivered. Vosotros led the Archers with nineteen points, with four three pointers out of seven. Six rebounds too. Jason Perkins hauled down fifteen rebounds to go with his thirteen points. Teng had only eight points on just two for five shooting, but he made the shot that counted.
Juno Sauler, the Archers' coach, showed some faith in Kib Montalbo, bringing the rookie guard on for a good four minutes of the fourth quarter. He tallied three points.
De La Salle did dodge one bullet: they committed eighteen turnovers, twice as many as Ateneo. Sauler, a sometime jiu-jitsu practitioner, told me that when his players commit turnovers, he feels like grappling with them. Quite a few deserve rear naked chokes now, especially Perkins, who forked over the ball four times.
DLSU has now swept Ateneo in their season series for the first time since 2005, and more importantly, improved to 7-4, just a game away from the priceless twice-to-beat advantage. Ateneo slumps to 6-5, the momentum from their FEU win all but vanishing.
But even more disturbing for the Blue Eagle faithful, first-year coach Bo Perasol lost his cool at the worst possible time.
Late in the game, with Ateneo down 61-59, Perasol saw one, maybe two uncalled fouls on his charges and saw it fit to race out to the court and accost the referee. Assistant Sandy Arespacochaga immediately dragged him away. Perasol went after the zebras again in front of the scorer's table, and was slapped with a technical. Vosotros drained both freebie charities.
What happened after the game was even worse for the former UP player. There has already been much speculation about what occurred. I've heard that Perasol was spat at and that a water bottle was thrown at him. Neither of those started the fracas. I should know, I was mere feet away from the action when it happened.
ALSO READ: NU gains share of top spot with fifth straight win.
A DLSU fan, whose appearance indicated that he should be too old for this sort of thing, sarcastically sneered “Bo, salamat ha” as Perasol walked through the tunnel towards the South Entrance, obviously in reference to the technical foul. There was a steel fence between the two men.
Perasol took exception, turned around and had words for him. Then he went back out on to the court on the side of the fan and tried to scale the barrier to the seating. A photo of an irate Coach Bo can be found in Jerome Lagunzad's game report. The coach was eventually restrained and proceeded to the locker room after it all settled down.
His actions that led to the technical foul were understandable, but ultimately uncalled for. The coach cannot give two free throws and possession to the opposing team in the endgame of a close and extremely important match like this.
Perasol should have walked away from the tart-tongued De La Salle supporter too. The fan's words weren't the height of diplomacy, but Coach Bo should have known better. He's heard worse and he'll hear worse from fans. He should have just ignored it and carried on into the dressing room. But since Perasol didn't, the possibility of disciplinary action from the league is likely.
There will be much bellyaching in Loyola about the bad calls. True, the refereeing wasn't the best. But it shouldn't have come down to that. If Ateneo was clearly the better team, poor calls wouldn't have made a difference. And the Archers got at least one bum call too. The first-half charge call on Teng couldn't have been an offensive foul. Replays showed the defender taking baby steps during the contact.
What is certain is that the greatest rivalry in the history of Philippine sports has been jolted back to life. It had been too one-sided for far too long. The atmosphere in the big dome was brilliant, with both halves of the arena filled to the brim and every ounce of air filled with noise throughout the game.
De La Salle has Ateneo's number this season, and their next meeting should be a cracker.
Follow Bob on Twitter @bhobg333.
