MANILA, Philippines – It’s nearly the end of the line for the back-to-back finalists from España.
The De La Salle Green Archers thwarted their Finals antagonists from last year UST Growling Tigers, 67-60, on Saturday, September 6 at the Mall of Asia Arena and put them in peril of being denied entry into the Final Four in the men’s basketball tournament of UAAP Season 77.
The fate of the Tigers now rest in the hands of the UP Fighting Maroons, who will have to pull off a monumental upset against the NU Bulldogs on Sunday if UST is to stay in the running.
Jeron Teng was once again the leader for La Salle with another double-figure production of 26 points together with 7 rebounds and two assists. Teng, who equaled UST’s team total 17 free throw attempts, iced the game for the Archers with a pair of freebies with 12.5 seconds left, 65-60, to slam the door on the Tigers.
Also in the running for the MVP plum, Teng went 6-of-15 from the field and bested the Tigers’ free throw shooting (12-of-17) by going 14-of-17 from that area.
The Archers exploited their championship experience as they played more composed and executed better down the stretch to overcome the Tigers, who have been struggling all season long following back-to-back competitive seasons.
La Salle also forced UST to 8 turnovers in the payoff period, highlighting the glaring problem of sloppy execution that plagued UST this year.
“What pulled us through this game was how we defended,” La Salle head coach Juno Sauler said.
After the last deadlock of the game at 60-all with 2:17 to play on a basket by center Arnold Van Opstal – who looked more himself today since recovering from his achilles injury with his 11 points and 7 rebounds – La Salle prevented UST from scoring any more with their pesky defense.
In the nip-and-tuck game, La Salle withstood UST’s sudden outburst from three-point range in the fourth, finally overtaking them for good with 1:12 to go on a split from the line by Teng.
“UST played very well on both ends of the floor. Their outside shots have been falling in,” Sauler explained of UST who shot 8-of-25 from long range. “We wanted to focus on their scorers like Abdul and Mariano but they gave us problems with their outside shooting. We were able to pull this off because of our defense.”
Several times UST led in the fourth thanks to timely triples from Ed Daquioag, who weathered a mild concussion he suffered from a collision in the second quarter, and Kent Lao (14 points on 4-of-7 triples).
Not even Ed Daquioag’s inspired 19-point game anchored on 3 triples was enough to salvage a win for the now 5-7 Tigers, who had a rough year highlighted by the wrist injury of wingman Kevin Ferrer that has sidelined him since late August.
UST last had hold of the lead with 2:32 to go in the fourth, 60-58, courtesy of some charities from Karim Abdul who had 13 points and 14 rebounds.
But the Archers pushed the ball hard towards the end and won it from the stripe.
La Salle is still in the running for a twice-to-beat advantage but will face tough adversity to close out the eliminations with the UE Red Warriors and NU in their path.
Though Sauler is ready to gut it out and take whatever they can in the Final Four.
“We just wanna play well on Wednesday and just make the most out of those opportunities and whatever happens we’ll just have to accept.”
Scores
La Salle (67): Teng 26, Van Opstal 11, Montalbo 8, Sargent 7, N. Torres 7, Perkins 4, Vosotros 4, Bolick 0, Rivero 0, Tratter 0.
UST (60): Daquioag 19, Lao 14, Abdul 13, Mariano 6, Lo 5, Gayosa 3, Basibas 0, Macasaet 0, Pe 0, Sheriff 0, Subido 0.
Quarter scores: 16-17, 30-34, 46-47, 67-60.
– Rappler.com
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