La Salle gets back at Ateneo behind Teng’s 32
De La Salle Green Archers and Ateneo Blue Eagles. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—Defending champion De La Salle got back at fierce rival Ateneo, 88-86, to grab a share of the lead in the UAAP Season 77 men’s basketball tournament Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Jeron Teng set the tone, scoring 21 of his game-high 32 points in the first half, while Jason Perkins added 18 points for the Green Archers, who stretched their winning streak to six games to tie the Blue Eagles and the Far Eastern University Tamaraws atop the standings at 6-2.
“Very well fought between the two sides which was what expected,” said DLSU head coach Juno Sauler.
“In the first half, I just saw openings for me that’s why I took it but in the second half their defense adjusted and I had to adjust also so I tried looking for my teammates,” Teng said of his performance which was highlighted by his personal season-high in points to go along with six rebounds and five assists.
The 6-foot-2 forward Teng also went 17-of-20 at the line, making more free throws than the entire Ateneo team, with his last freebies giving the Archers an 87-83 lead with only 8.1 seconds left.
“I just really work on my free throws because I know every game I will take lots of free throws. So in order to help the team I have to make my free throws. Continuously I practice my free throws,” said Teng.
Perkins on the other hand, scored the bulk of his points in the second half including a pull up jumper from the right elbow that gave La Salle an 84-81 cushion with 31.0 ticks remaining just seconds after Ateneo star Kiefer Ravena air balled a 3-pointer.
Ravena torched the Green Archers in their first meeting last July 20 back in the first round in a 97-86 win by the Blue Eagles and it appeared that he would have another one of those games after he exploded with 15 points in the second quarter.
Unfortunately for the Eagles, Ravena cooled off in the second half with the Archers’ defense clamping down on him with different defenders and majority of the time doubling up.
“Ravena will always be Ravena. He’ll play that way and the best way you can do is just keep challenging his shots and hope that he misses,” Sauler said of his team’s defensive game plan on the top MVP candidate at the end of the first round of eliminations.
Athletic rookie Julian Sargent and Robert Bolick were tasked to contain Ravena and with the exception of the second period, they did a decent job, forcing the heady guard, who was visibly tired down the stretch, to shoot just 8-of-23 from the field.
“[Sargent] helped us a lot. He and Robert were the ones supposed to defend Ravena. Big minutes also from Prince,” Sauler commended.
Apart from their defensive assignment, Sargent and Bolick also combined for 21 points with both draining timely triples. Rookie Paolo Rivero also had a solid outing with nine points, five rebounds and two assists.
“The reason why they were able to score, I like what Jeron said that the defense started to adjust on Jeron in the second half and he was able to make very good reads, he involved his teammates,” Sauler pointed out. “I remember one he was doubled early somewhere in the mid court in front of the bench then he just made the pass on Juliant because he was met by opponents. So the reason why the other guys are scoring is because Jeron is recognizing the defense.”
The offensive possession Sauler recalled was when Sargent drilled in a big triple that put La Salle ahead by four, 81-77, with 2:06 left.
Ateneo trailed by as much as 13 in the first half before getting into their rhythm in the second half and even grab the upper hand, 75-73, after a right corner triple by Gwyne Capacio at the 5:43 mark of the fourth quarter.
The game was tied at 81 after an inside basket by Fonso Gotladera before Teng split his charities with 1:16 to go and the Archers led for good.
Chris Newsome added 15 points, 11 in the final frame, while Nico Elorde had 14 before cramping up in the final minute.
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