Naturalized Korean Ricardo Ratliffe sat out the entire second half, but his team hardly needed him in disposing of Ateneo-Philippines, 90-73, in the 40th William Jones Cup on Monday at the Xinzhuang Gymnasium in New Taipei City, Taiwan.
The former Star Hotshots import dropped 16 points and seven rebounds in the first 20 minutes of action, before letting his teammates get the job done in the ensuing quarters as Korea nabbed its second win in as many games in the annual tournament.
Heo Ilyoung had the same number of points built on three three-pointers. Heo Ung added 12 markers.
The Chooks-to-Go powered Ateneo, meanwhile, crashed back to Earth after a rousing win over Chinese-Taipei White in the opener.
Ateneo used its methodical approach to keep in step with the Asian powerhouse. It worked wonders for them until the final three minutes of the match, where the Koreans pulled away behind back-to-back three-pointers by Jeon Junbeom.
His last triple gave Korea a comfortable 85-71 buffer with 2:34 remaining. That pretty much staved off a late Blue Eagles rally that got them to within eight, 71-79 with 3:27 to go.
Indeed, three-pointers spelled the difference in the match between the young Ateneo team and the more experienced Koreans, whose bread and butter is their shooting from long range.
Korea shot 55.6 percent from the three-point area or making 10 from that range in 18 attempts.
The Blue Eagles, on the other hand, struggled to find their mark as they put up a woeful 5-of-27 shooting from the rainbow country.
Ravena led Ateneo with 14 points, including the acrobatic layup in transition that trimmed the gap to eight, 71-70. But his shooting turned sour after that and Korea pounced on the Blue Eagles to run away with the victory.
Nieto had 14 points while Anjelo Kouame chipped in 10 markers, 16 rebounds, two blocks, and a steal.
Ateneo will next face Canada on July 17 at 3 p.m.
THE SCORES
Korea 90 - Ratliffe 15, Heo I 15, Heo U 12, Lee J 9, Hoon 6, Kang 6, Jeon 6, Kim J 6, Park 5, Choi 4, Lee S 4, Kim 2
Atenep-Philippines 73 - Ravena 14, Nieto 12, Kouame 10, Wong 9, Verano 5, Go 5, Navaroo 5, Mendoza 5, White 3, Maagdenberg 3, Mamuyc 2, Andrade 0.
Quarterscores: 26-22, 50-41, 70-60, 90-73