We live in the time of Jeron Teng and Kiefer Ravena
Jeron Teng beasted with 15 points in the first quarter of Ateneo-La Salle round two. Cheering wildly, La Salle’s fans were sure that their King Archer remembered how the Eagles torched them in their last game. Expecting a basket every time Teng held the ball, DLSU fans didn’t think it was possible for him to miss. He was too big and too strong against anyone who tried to defend him.
With mouths agape, Blue Eagles watched in horror as Teng bulldozed his way into the lane. Chris Newsome, Kiefer Ravena, and Von Pessumal all took turns guarding him, but no one could stop the green and white freight train.
Fifteen points in 10 minutes. Story of the game. This doesn’t happen often. It will probably take a while before this happens again.
‘A while’ lasted only ten minutes. Kiefer Ravena woke up in the second quarter, scoring on an assortment of jumpers, shots that he had no business making.
Sensing the momentum turning, Ateneo fans finally got their King Eagle back. With their faces painted with ‘Anything you could do, he could do better’ towards Teng, they knew that as long as they had Ravena on the floor, Ateneo would always have a shot at winning.
They were down by 17 against UE. They were not down by that big against La Salle.
For the rest of the game, Teng and Ravena took turns in scoring or setting up their teammates. The defenses centered on them so the two had to be more creative.
La Salle versus Ateneo came down to the final possessions. The only difference was that Kiefer Ravena missed some difficult shots, while Jeron Teng got some help from Jason Perkins.
When the fans inside the Smart-Araneta Coliseum made their way to the exits, Ravena and Teng dominated their discussions. For so long the two rivals did not have alpha dogs going up against each other.
When La Salle had great bigs, Ateneo banked on their guards. When Ateneo had Rabeh Al-Hussaini, La Salle was powered by JVee Casio. Even during the times of Joseph Yeo, Wesley Gonzales, Mac Cardona, and Larry Fonacier, Ateneo and La Salle did not really have two superstars who could just go head-to-head at any given point.
Now they have it in Ravena and Teng. Now, this period of the Ateneo-La Salle rivalry will have two distinct faces. We all live in the time of King Archer Jeron Teng and King Eagle Kiefer Ravena.
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