UAAP: La Salle sinks rival Ateneo

MANILA, Philippines — La Salle doomed rival Ateneo to a 0-3 start with a come-from-behind 82-73 win Sunday in the UAAP season 76 men’s basketball tournament at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Luigi Dela Paz came up big in the fourth quarter, including a corner triple and a tough jumper in the last 1:47 to play which kept the Green Archers’ lead to a safe seven.

Dela Paz, who has fully recovered from a shoulder injury last year, finished with 10 points.

“He’s a real fighter. After a getting a good rehab, he was able to regain his form back. Great mental toughness in the part of Luigi,” said head coach Juno Sauler.

Guard Almond Vosotros paced La Salle with 19 points, and nine rebounds, Arnold Van Opstal added 18 and eight, while Jeron Teng 13 and 10 as they took advantage of Ateneo’s bigs in foul trouble.

The Green Archers, who outrebounded Ateneo, 48-32, also leaned on a pivotal 20-4 run in the third to flip the momentum to their favor and erase a 12-point deficit at halftime, 28-40.

JP Erram fouled out at the end of third while Frank Golla followed with 7:19 to play which left the Blue Eagles’ front line paper thin in the fourth.

Van Opstal nailed a running hook, then split his freebies in the ensuing possession to give the Green Archers their biggest lead, 74-66, with 3:11 left.

This is the first victory of La Salle over the defending champion Ateneo since the first round of the UAAP season 73.

Chris Newsome scattered 27 points for the Blue Eagles, Juami Tiongson added 14 but Ryan Buenafe — who exploded for 29 points the last time — only had 11.

His two freethrows, though, pulled Ateneo within four, 70-74, before Dela Paz nailed his only triple of the night.

The Blue Eagles just fell behind coming off the intermission after leading by as many as 14, 38-24, in the first half where they canned all three of their conversions from downtown.

The defending champions are at their worst start since 1997, where the Blue Eagles fell 0-4 before nabbing their first win.

Originally posted at 06:31 pm | Sunday, July 7, 2013