MANILA, Philippines – The DLSU Green Archers held on to their lead in the fourth quarter and took care of the UE Red Warriors, 72-64, to improve to 5-4 in the UAAP Season 78 senior’s basketball tournament on Wednesday, October 14, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Jeron Teng finished with 20 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists in the victory, while Thomas Torres pitched in 15 points and 5 boards. Both guys combined for 28 points in the first half, where DLSU connected on 50% of their shots.
La Salle, who lost their last game to UST after blowing an 11-point lead, led by 13 in the second quarter before letting UE rally early in the third period.
“Hard-fought game,” DLSU head coach Juno Sauler said about the contest post-game. “Even if we had the lead in the first half, UE fought back in the start of the second.”
“It’s a good thing the players were able to get their composure back and finish the game well,” he said.
Larry Muyang had another stellar game against UE, this time finishing with 9 points and 11 rebounds despite twisting his ankle in the final period. Second-year standout Prince Rivero accounted for 8 points and 8 rebounds, while third-year man Jason Perkins put up 7 points and grabbed 13 rebounds.
Overall, La Salle outrebounded UE 54-40, but that was offset by their 30 turnovers.
“Kulang kami sa (we lacked) energy for toady’s game and UE just showed more effort sa pressing nila, fastbreaks,” Teng said after the game.
The Red Warriors erased their 11-point deficit to start the third period thanks in large part to the impressive play of Chris Javier, who finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds - 7 on the offensive glass.
The game stayed close until the fourth period, where DLSU was able to eventually pull away owing to quality ball movement and timely defensive stops.
A critical follow-up layin by Muyang extended his team’s lead to 8 with 3:50 remaining in the game. After the Green Archers managed to get a stop, a reverse layup by Rivero put his team up 68-58.
Both teams then went scoreless for over a minute until Josh Torralba, who wound up with 8 points, hit a game-sealing 3-pointer with 2:00 to go, 71-60.
UE was able to put 4 straight points on the board thanks to a basket by Edison Batiller and free throws by Philip Manalang, but DLSU clamped up on defense the rest of the way to prevent a comeback.
“I think we were better this game compared to the first game (against UE),” said Sauler, whose team shot 43% from the field and 30% from deep.
La Salle again played without Rookie of the Year Race leader Andrei Caracut, who was at the arena but didn’t see action because he missed more than a week of practice.
“When he starts practicing better tomorrow, we might [play him on Sunday.] We don’t know yet,” Sauler said.
The defeat dropped University of the East to 3-6, as they lost for the fifth time in their last 6 games.
Emil Palma also played well with 14 points and 5 boards, but Batiller had another bad game against DLSU as he finished with 9 points on 3-of-11 shooting.
The Red Warriors shot only 30% from the field, and hit just 2-of-15 from downtown.
Scores:
DLSU (72): Teng 20, Torres 15, Muyang 9, Rivero 8, Torralba 8, Perkins 7, Sargent 3, Langston 2, Navarro 0
UE (64): Javier 14, Palma 14, Batiller 9, Varilla 8, Derige 6, Manalang 6, Charcos 5, Varilla 2, Abanto 0, De Leon 0, Gagate 0, Gonzales 0, Penuela 0, Yu 0
Quarter scores: 19-16, 41-30, 55-50, 72-64
– Rappler.com