MANILA, Philippines – The De La Salle University Green Archers turned in an outstanding defensive effort against one of the UAAP’s top scorers in Edison Batiller and held on to their lead late in the fourth quarter to send the UE Red Warriors to their third straight loss, 71-64, on Sunday, September 27, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Despite struggling most of the game against UE’s vaunted press defense, La Salle managed to get enough baskets and free throws and did a good job on the other end of the floor to seal the victory late.
La Salle team captain Jeron Teng and star rookie Andrei Caracut each registered 16 points in their team’s third win in 5 games in the UAAP Season 78 senior’s basketball tournament. UE, who dropped to 2-4, was led by the 14 points of Nick Abanto and 12 points of RR De Leon, both of whom combined to go 11-of-21 from the field.
Batiller, UE’s leading scorer for the season, was limited to just two points on 0-of-9 shooting, including a 0-of-5 showing from downtown.
“It’s a hard win. UE kept battling until the very last minute,” said La Salle head coach Juno Sauler after the game.
La Salle also received a strong performance from rookie big man Larry Muyang of Pampanga, who finished with 11 points, 11 rebounds, and 4 blocks.
“Larry’s been playing very well. He gets his points… he can rebound and he has good timing also. He has quick feet. He can jump quick,” Sauler said.
Thomas Torres and Joshua Torralba also both played well in the win, combining for 15 points despite shooting just 5-of-20 from the field.
La Salle looked like they had the game won after Caracut scored 7 straight points to open the fourth period, but a 12-1 UE run - capped off by a triple by Paul Varilla - cut their lead to 4, 60-56.
The Green Archers stopped the bleeding and looked like they had sealed the game after Torres and Caracut took turns converting layups, but Emil Palma completed a 3-point play to keep the Red Warriors within striking distance.
After Teng hit a free throw, both teams went scoreless over the next few minutes until Caracut, who scored 11 points of his career high in the final quarter, hit two charities to put the Green Archers back up by 8.
The Red Warriors went on a late charge thanks to a De Leon put-back that with 44.5 seconds to go, but after attaining a steal, Edgar Charcos blew a layup on the break. Torralba then hit two charities with 22 seconds left, giving DLSU enough of a cushion, 69-61, to seal the win.
The Green Archers shot 38% from the floor despite hitting just 3-of-20 from downtown. La Salle also committed 30 turnovers, leading to 18 UE points.
The Red Warriors shot just 32% from the floor and 2-of-19 from long range. They also struggled holding on to the ball, turning it over 20 times.
DLSU will be back in action next on Wednesday, September 30, when they face the 4-1 UST Growling Tigers at the Mall of Asia Arena.
“UST is a strong team. They play very hard… it’s going to be a tough game on Wednesday,” said Sauler.
UE will look to end the first round at 3-4 when they face the Growling Tigers on Wednesday, October 7.
Scores:
DLSU (71): Teng 16, Caracut 16, Muyang 11, Torres 8, Torralba 8, Perkins 6, Sargent 5, Navarro 2, Rivero 0, Tratter 0
UE (64): Abanto 14, De Leon 12, Charcos 8, Varilla 7, Palma 5, Penuela 5, Javier 4, Derige 3, Batiller 2, Gagate 2, Yu 2, Manalang 0, Sta Ana 0
Quarter scores: 17-16, 32-26, 51-41, 71-64
– Rappler.com