THE UAAP’s best is now also the No. 1 varsity team in the country.
La Salle throttled Southwestern University’s late surge as the Green Archers hacked out a 70-61 victory over the Cobras to capture the Philippine Collegiate Champions League (PCCL) crown yesterday at Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan.
Finals MVP Jeron Teng pumped in 16 points while Jason Perkins and Almond Vosotros combined to prop the Archers back in the final six minutes as La Salle completed a 2-0 sweep of the best-of-three finals series.
“It’s a great year for us,” said La Salle coach Juno Sauler after his Archers emerged as only the third team to dominate the national tournament on the same year it ruled its mother league.
“There were lots of learning for us and hopefully these learning and experience will carry us through next year. Things happened that we should have avoided. It still showed our lack of maturity,” he said.
The Archers, who took Game 1 with a 64-54 decision that avenged their Final 4 loss, looked headed for an easy victory after keeping the Cebu-based Cobras at bay for most of the game.
But Landry Sanjo, who topscored for SWU with 16 points, Mark Tallo, Monbert Arong and Daryl Goloran combined to boost the Cobras within five, 56-51.
Perkins and Vosotros countered for the Archers by teaming up for 10 points in a 12-0 blast that widened the gap again by 17 points, 68-51, going into the final two minutes.
“Almond has always been that way, he has the ability to hit big shots,” said Sauler. “Perkins also played big.”
“La Salle is not the champion of the UAAP for nothing,” said SWU coach Yayoy Alcoseba. “But we’re proud we were not blown out.”
Vosotros shot 3-of-3 from three-point range to finish with 15 points and Perkins wound up with a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Both players joined Teng, Tallo and Sanjo in the Mythical Five, while Sauler bagged the Best Coach award.
Far Eastern U was the first team to bag the UAAP and PCCL titles on the same year in 2003, before Ateneo matched the feat in 2009 and 2010.
The Archers also pocketed P600,000 in cash and athletic goods, while the Cobras received P300,000.
The scores:
LA SALLE 70—Teng 16, Vosotros 15, Perkins 14, Reyes 7, Bollick 5, Van Opstal 4, N. Torres 4, T. Torres 3, Tampus 2, Montalbo 0, Salem 0.
SOUTHWESTERN 61—Sanjo 16, Tallo 15, Goloran 12, Arong 10, Mohammed 3, Holper 3, Siewe 2, Bautista 0, Panerio 0, Ortega 0, Bregondo 0.
Quarters: 19-13, 34-22, 53-42, 70-61
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La Salle bags PCCL title after sweeping SWU