DLSU ‘s Paolo Rivero against FEU’s Mark Belo during the 77th UAAP Basketball game at the SM Mall of Asia. MARIANNE BERMUDEZ
LA SALLE didn’t let Far Eastern University get away with another close one this time.
The Green Archers came out dominant in their fourth meeting with the Tamaraws this season, hacking out an emphatic 94-73 win to forge a knockout duel for a championship berth in the UAAP men’s basketball tournament yesterday at Mall of Asia Arena.
Jeron Teng kept his team’s back-to-back title bid alive by sustaining the Archers’ strong start with a team-high 25 points and seven rebounds.
“I just wanted them to play consistently, all four quarters,” coach Juno Sauler said of his Archers, who just lost to the Tamaraws by a slim average of 4.6 points in three previous meetings this season.
“We didn’t really change anything. What we did in the first quarter was how we played all throughout the ball game.”
La Salle will try to overcome FEU’s twice-to-beat edge in a knockout semifinal duel at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, right after National University tries to do the same against No. 1 Ateneo at 2 p.m. at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Norbert Torres (18 points) and Almond Vosotros (17 points) helped the Archers take leads as high as 25 points, 91-66, while rookie Fil-Am Julian Sargent sparked their first-quarter outburst by going 3-of-3 from three-point range for an early 24-14 spread.
“They (Archers) played really well,” said FEU coach Nash Racela, who only had Mac Belo showing up with a career-high 32 points.
FEU, though, triumphed in women’s action as the Lady Tamaraws dethroned the Lady Archers, 81-80, in overtime to secure the last championship berth.
The Lady Tamaraws overcame the twice-to-beat edge of the Lady Archers with April Siat burying the clutch baskets to finish with a game-high 24 points and 12 rebounds.
The No. 4 Lady Tamaraws advanced to the Finals versus the unbeaten National University, which owns a thrice-to-beat Finals advantage after a 14-0 sweep of the eliminations.
The Men’s scores:
LA SALLE 94–Teng 25, N. Torres 18, Vosotros 17, Sargent 11, Perkins 8, Van Opstal 4, Montalbo 3, T. Torres 3, Rivero 2, Salem 2, Mustre 1, Andrada 0.
FEU 73–Belo 32, Tolomia 7, David 7, Tamsi 6, Iñigo 6, Jose 5, Cruz 4, Hargrove 2, Pogoy 2, Ugsang 2, Dennison 0, Delfinado 0, Denila 0, Lee Yu 0, Escoto 0.
Quarters: 24-14, 34-27, 63-47, 94-73