INQUIRER Sports

MANILA, Philippines -- La Salle found itself locked in another classic battle against the University of Santo Tomas, but it's the Archers who came out on top for an 85-84 squeaker over the Tigers to grab a share of second place in the 71st UAAP men's basketball competition Thursday at the PhilSports Arena.

The Archers paraded an effective pair in James Mangahas -- who knocked down a key double-pump shot with 47.7 ticks left for an 82-81 lead -- and Bader Malabes to lead them in the final stretch.

"My role players really stepped up in this particular game," said La Salle coach Franz Pumaren after his Archers won the battle between champions of the last two seasons.

"We did a good job in defending Jervy [Cruz]. He got only five offensive rebounds. I think my big guys really played well."

JV Casio topscored with 19 points, including two buffer free throws that kept the Archers ahead at 84-81 with 16.4 ticks remaining.

Mangahas shot 14 of his 18 points in the second half, while Malabes added 16, capped by a triple from the left corner that shattered a 77-77 deadlock for an 80-77 edge with 1:42 minutes remaining.

"I was very confident when I made my first shot in the second half," said Mangahas, a 6-foot-3 junior forward.

The Archers improved to 2-1 to join the Far Eastern Tamaraws and the University of the East Warriors at second place, while the Tigers fell to 1-2.

Rookie point guard Jeric Fortuna missed two attempts from beyond the arc that doomed the Tigers in the last 26 seconds.

Dylan Ababou nailed an inconsequential trey at the buzzer for the final tally, after La Salle freshman Maui Villanueva sank a free throw off a duty foul by UST's Carlos Fenequito that extended the Archers' lead to four, 85-81with 5.5 seconds left.

Ababou paced the Tigers with 23 points, while Cruz posted a double-double of 20 markers and 11 boards.

Casio led with 12 points in the first half built on a perfect 4-of-4 shooting from the field to lead the Archers to a 38-34 halftime advantage.

The Archers sustained the momentum in the third period with Mangahas scoring six of their first eight points to keep the lead at 46-38.

Malabes also got his offensive game going by firing eight straight points, including back-to-back triples, to put the Archers up at 56-48 late in the third quarter.

But the Tigers responded behind Cruz to trim the gap at 60-56, before Mark Canlas and Ababou chipped in to make it 64-63.

A Fortuna three-point play later tied the game at 66 with 8:26 minutes left in the final canto.

The Tigers wrested the lead, 71-70, and even went up at 75-72 after a Francis Allera trey and Cruz's low post bucket sparked the rally.

"You can see that in spite of UST making a run, we were composed," said Pumaren. "I'm glad we executed down the stretch, we made those crucial free throws."

The scores:

LA SALLE 85 -- Casio 19, Mangahas 18, Malabes 16, Maierhofer 8, Barua 7, Revilla 6, Walsham 4, Villanueva 3, Webb 2, Atkins 2, Mendoza 0, Bagatsing 0, Ferdinand 0, Batricevic 0.

UST 84 -- Ababou 23, Cruz 20, Canlas 18, Allera 12, Fortuna 5, Cuan 4, Taylor 2, Fenequito 0, Camus 0, Bautista 0, Mirza 0, Gile 0.

Quarters: 18-14, 38-34, 63-58, 85-84