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Aug 02

UE Manhandles La Salle!

by Tony L. Atayde
3,404 Views | 121 Comments

In a rematch of last year’s finals, UE’s physical game was just too much for La Salle, as the Red Warriors took a 68 – 62 victory and ended with a 4 – 3 first round record while La Salle ended with a 5- 2 record.

La Salle was hit with injuries right in the first quarter. Simon Atkins hit the back of his head as a UE player rammed into him and had to be taken to the hospital. He is now under observation and no news about his condition has been released.

Moments later, Marko Batricevic fell after getting entangled with Hans Thiele and his re-injured his ACL, that sidelined him for all but one game last year. It doesn’t look good for Marko. I saw him as I was leaving Araneta and he confirmed this.
In the 3rd quarter, James Mangahas also twisted his ankle but was able to return. He re-injured it in the fourth quarter also but the fighting spirit in James did not stop him from coming back. Maierhifer also twisted his ankle in the fourth.

It was UE’s stifling defense that did La Salle in. Both JV Casio and Rico Maeirhofer could not get a rhythm going and that made La Salle’s offense ineffective. UE’s Zamar stuck to Casio like bread on butter and the La Salle spitfire just could get his 3 pointers going.

In addition, the injury to Atkins, took away the game of Casio. He had to play the point during long stretches of the game which greatly diminished his scoring opportunities.

UE’s big men, Espiritu and Llagas, also kept Maierhofer from dominating on the inside.
But it was UE’s accuracy from the 3 point area that spelled the difference. James Martinez, who had lost his touch in UE’s 2 previous losses, hit at will.

Rebounding was also all UE. La Salle’s big men looked helpless as UE’s dominated the inside and beat the Green Archers on both defensive and offensive rebounds.

But the Green Archers just wouldn’t give up. Late in the fourth, with UE leading by 14, La Salle made one final run. They were able to bring the lead down to 6 and had a number of chances to cut the lead even more. However, their shots just wouldn’t fall and when they missed, UE would come down with the rebound.
Some bright spots though for La Salle were the impressive games of the rookies, Bagatsing, Revilla and Villanueva. Together with James Mangahas, they showed that La Salle is not going to back down.

Let’s not forget that this is a strong UE squad that was predicted to be in the top 3 at the end of the double round robin. They have a very strong starting unit, their bench is deep and their coach has improved tremendously.

I am sure Coach Franz will make the necessary adjustments to avoid a similar situation in the future. But there is hardly anything you can do when one team plays as good as UE did. La Salle did not have the momentum to play catch-up.

The name of the game is peaking at the right time. I think FEU is already peaking and Ateneo may have already peaked. But UE, La Salle and UST still have a ways to go before they start to show their best.

It will be a very interesting 2nd round.