CARMELO Afuang of UST battles the UP pair of Andew Marfori (left) and Migs de Asis (right) for the loose ball. PHILIPPINE DAILY INQUIRER/AUGUST DELA CRUZ
GAMES SUNDAY (PhilSports Arena) 2 p.m.--NU vs Adamson 4 p.m.--UE vs Ateneo
MANILA, Philippines--For Coach Franz Pumaren, it only made sense to turn to his best man on the court.
JV Casio took charge in key moments of the second half and powered the La Salle Archers to a 73-62 triumph over the Far Eastern Tamaraws in the 71st UAAP men's basketball tournament Saturday at the PhilSports Arena.
Casio knocked down a career-high 29 points on top of eight rebounds and three steals as the Archers notched their first win in two games.
"Today's game was a JV Casio show," said Pumaren. "One classic move was the last layup that he made. FEU just froze, they just stood and thought he'll just dribble the ball. And suddenly there's that burst of speed. I'm happy with the veterans. They performed really well. They carried the team not only scoring-wise, but in all the other aspects."
Rico Maierhofer collected 11 markers, 17 rebounds and three blocks to help the Archers recover from a 79-73 loss to arch rival Ateneo last Sunday.
A group of La Salle supporters wore over-sized IDs during the game in a mocking reference to the technical foul slapped on the Archers before their game against the Eagles for their coaching staff's failure to wear official league identification cards.
Earlier, University of Santo Tomas reminded University of the Philippines it still has a lot of growing up to do in the league as the Tigers walloped the host Maroons, 94-75.
Dylan Ababou, who just recovered from a right hand fracture, took command in the first half and finished with a game-high 20 points.
La Salle, UST, UP and FEU all wound up tied at 1-1 behind early leaders Ateneo and University of the East.
Rookie point guard Jeric Fortuna helped spark the early UST run by scoring 10 of his 11 markers in the opening quarter, while reigning Most Valuable Player Jervy Cruz sustained the onslaught to finish with 15 points despite nursing injuries in his hamstring and ankle.
"Jervy is just 80 percent," said coach Pido Jarencio after the Tigers recovered from a 78-73 opening-day setback versus the University of the East.
"But Fortuna, he's really good, he'll be the future star point guard of UST. As I've said, we'll always come up with a surprise."
The Maroons had looked capable of pulling off another upset win with a surprising 17-9 start against the 2006 champion Tigers.
But the Maroons--who surprisingly crushed National University, 86-72, last Sunday--turned cold as the Tigers wrapped up the first period with a 15-3 rally to wrest the lead at 26-21.
The Tigers pulled away to a 61-43 advantage at halftime after a notable 56.8-percent shooting clip.
The Maroons, who lost all 14 assignments last season by an average of 20.8 points, trailed by as many as 27 points, 75-48, in the third quarter.
The Archers rose from 36-43 down in the last four minutes of the third quarter by mounting a 14-4 run, including 12 points from three-point range to claim the edge at 50-47.
Back-to-back treys by Casio and Bader Malabes kept the Archers up at 60-54 in the final period, before Benedict Fernandez towed the Tamaraws within 60-59.
But Maierhofer and Casio sparked a 7-0 spurt to stretch the Archers' lead again to 67-59 heading into the final two minutes.
"We didn't want to stop fighting, because that's what happened when we lost lost to Ateneo," said Casio. "We needed to show that we can keep our intensity until the final quarter."
The Archers nailed only 9-of-31 attempts in the first half, but trailed the Tamaraws only by three, 32-29, at the break.
The Eagles and the Warriors, meanwhile, will dispute the solo lead at 4 p.m. Sunday also at the PhilSport Arena. Adamson and National U shoot for their first win earlier at 2 p.m.
The scores: First Game UST 94--Ababou 20, Cruz 15, Fortuna 11, Canlas 11, Allera 11, Cuan 9, Fenequito 6, Camus 6, Bautista 3, Taylor 2, Wong 0, Vargas 0, Afuang 0, Gile 0.
UP 74--Sison 20, Pajela 9, Fortu 8, Agbayani 8, Sorongon 6, Marfori 5, Gamboa 5, De Asis 5, Reyes 4, Co 3, Astorga 2, Lopez 0, Dela Victoria 0, Maniego 0, Hipolito 0, Braganza 0.
Quarters: 26-21, 61-43, 81-58, 94-75
Second Game LA SALLE 73--Casio 29, Maierhofer 11, Barua 9,Malabes 7, Atkins 5, Walsham 4, Mangahas 4, Webb 2, Villanueva 2, Revlla 0, Bagatsing 0, Ferdinand 0.
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