La Salle, San Beda forge Filoil title battle

MANILA, Philippines—La Salle and San Beda survived the gutsy stand of their overachieving opponents as the two varsity champions arranged a title duel Friday in the Filoil Flying V Hanes Premier Cup.

The Green Archers outlasted Southwestern University, 72-64, while the Red Lions halted Centro Escolar University’s incredible run with a 63-62 escape in the knockout semifinals at Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan.

Almond Vosotros dropped 19 points on top of five rebounds and three assists as the UAAP king Green Archers turned their game around in the second half to build leads as high as 11 points, 70-59.

“I told the players not to be tentative,” coach Juno Sauler said of his Archers, who played catch up for most of the first half. “If there’s an opportunity to run, just keep running and try to get easy baskets because Southwestern was pressuring us all the way to the backcourt.”

The Red Lions stayed alive with Art dela Cruz nailing the marginal basket, 63-60, before holding down the CEU Scorpions to just a bucket in the final 1:42 minutes.

“Hats off to CEU, they really played well,” said coach Boyet Fernandez after his NCAA champion Lions ended the Scorpions’ unbeaten run to seven games. “They just fight through everything. They came back but eventually, we just made stops in the end.”

The Scorpions had one last shot at an upset, but Carlo Casiño slipped as he went for a potential game-winning trey at the buzzer.

Ola Adeogun led the Lions with 16 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks, while Dela Cruz had 15 markers, eight boards and five assists.

The winner-take-all final is set at 4 p.m. Sunday also in San Juan.

Jeron Teng added 14 markers and Norbert Torres had 12 points, including back-to-back baskets that sparked a 12-0 outburst that pushed the Archers ahead, 50-46, after trailing by as many as eight, 38-46. With a report from Vinz Lamorena

The scores:

First Game

LA SALLE 72—Vosotros 19, Teng 14, N. Torres 12, Van Opstal 11, Perkins 5, Andrada 4, T. Torres 3, Sargent 2, Rivero 2, Montalbo 0, Mustre 0, Bolick 0.

SWU 64—Parker 17, Tallo 14, Pardo 9, Mohammed 8, Sanjo 4, Goloran 4, Luz 4, Bregondo 4, Aboude 0, Acuno 0.

Quarters: 24-16, 35-39, 56-51, 72-64

Second Game

SAN BEDA 63—Adeogun 16, Dela Cruz 15, Amer 8, Pascual 6, Koga 6, Mendoza 6, A. Semerad 4, Cabanag 2, Ludovice 0, Rongco 0, Mocon 0, D. Semerad 0.

CEU 62—De Leon 16, Batino 12, Jeruta 8, Abundo 7, Casiño 5, Mutombo 5, Ebondo 4, Opiso 3, Sedurifa 2.

Quarters: 19-12, 37-29, 54-46, 63-62