Green Archers gain 2x to beat Advantage
Tuesday, 18 September 2007 68 Comments
Even if they lost twice against Ateneo this 70th UAAP men’s basketball season, La Salle has earned the most important win against their archrival.
The De La Salle Green Archers relied on their stifling defense to prevail over the Ateneo Blue Eagles, 70-69, in a neck-to-neck battle to clinch the second slot last September 18 at the Araneta Coliseum.
Inspired by its supporters at the Big Dome, De La Salle displayed its pressure defense to limit Ateneo to only four points in the pivotal final two-minute mark to help the Green Archers secure a twice-to-beat edge.
The Blue Eagles, with the loss, have dropped to No. 3 and will face the reigning UAAP champs and fourth seed University of Santo Tomas in the semifinals. Then, the winner will meet La Salle in a step-ladder semifinal match.
“I’m so confident we can win this game even if we lost twice to them,� said La Salle head coach Franz Pumaren. “I coached for more than 120 games in the UAAP and I never though that there is no second chance.�
Although they were down by a few points in the first half, the Green Archers didn’t give up as they bounced back strong in the final two quarters to keep the game in striking distance even seizing the lead.
La Salle was down by 12-13 and 28-32 at the first and second periods, respectively, but was able to regroup in the third quarter were it outscored Ateneo, 22-15, to snatch the lead at the start of the fourth quarter, 50-47.
Veteran off-guard Joseph Evans Casio, displayed his relentless leadership skills all-throughout, exploded for 10 of his 21 points in the third quarter along with six rebounds and three steals to lead La Salle.
“It’s a second chance for me after my worst performance against Ateneo the last time we met,� said Casio, referring to La Salle’s 89-87 loss against Ateneo last September 9 where he only made five points. “At last, we got this win.�
In fact, Ateneo only needed to beat National University last Saturday for the 2nd spot. But the Blue Eagles suffered an upset at the hands of the Bulldogs, 96-88, and forced a playoff game between these two rivals.
“It’s our second chance,� said Pumaren. “We were talking about second chance after Ateneo lost to NU last Saturday and I’m glad we’re able to make our second chance valuable to us.�
After three deadlocks in the fourth quarter, La Salle’s stalwart PJ Walsham scored a go-ahead basket off a pass from Maierhofer to provide them a 67-65 advantage with 2:37 minutes to go in the fourth period.
Casio scored on a lay-up to extend the lead, 69-65, with 1:54 minutes to go then Chris Tiu trimmed the gap to 67-69 after making two free throws with 1:45 minutes left.
The Blue Eagles, however, failed to score hoping to tie or regain the lead in the remaining moments as the Green Archers’ rock-solid defense were there to hold off the Blue Eagles.
Guard Cholo Villanueva, who had seven points, scored on a split free throw to give La Salle a 70-67 lead with only 9.3 seconds to go.
With La Salle’s intimidating presence in the back court, Ateneo’s Laterre was forced to score inside the arc as time expired to peg the final count.
Lanky Rico Maierhofer added 13 points and hauled down 12 rebounds. While playmaker Tyrone Tang produced eight of his 10 points in the final period. And Peejay Barua had nine points for La Salle.
Kirk Long led Ateneo with 11 points, while teammates Chris Tiu and Eric Salamat had 11 each for the Blue Eagles, who are 2-1 against La Salle this season.
During the game, the Green Archers were wearing a No. 15 patch at the left side of their jersey showing their concern to teammate Brian Ilad, who was suspended for five games by the technical committee after punching Mark Pamfulme of UE last September 14.
Individual scores:
La Salle 70: Casio 21, Maierhofer 13, Tang 10, Barua 9, Villanueva 7, Walsham 6, Ferdinand 2, Mangahas 2, Malabes 0, Atkins 0.
Ateneo 69: Long 11, Tiu 10, Salamat 10, Laterre 9, Arao 8, Al-Hussaini 7, Baclao 4, Escueta 4, Reyes 2, Nkemakolam 2, Barracoso 2, Monfort 0.
Quarter scoring 12-13, 28-32, 50-47, 70-69
(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
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