La Salle blasts Adamson behind Teng’s 18

La Salle forward Jeron Teng scores an easy layup. Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

Aching to stop the bleeding, De La Salle pummeled Adamson, 88-71, in the UAAP Season 78 men’s basketball tournament Sunday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The win put an end to the Green Archers’ two-game slide to reach the .500 with a 2-2 slate.

The Archers unleashed a 23-6 blast after falling behind early, 4-1, and went by as much as 26, 56-30, in the second half.

“We still have a lot of things to improve,” said Sauler, who didn’t like that Adamson had too many extra possessions and his squad being careless with the ball with 22 turnovers. “We’re still finding the right chemistry.”

The Falcons battled back in the game with JD Tungcab drilling two treys in the third quarter and Papi Sarr imposing his will in the fourth period to bring their team to as close as 11, 63-52 with 8:53 left before Jeron Teng and Thomas Torres got the Archers out of harm’s way late.

Teng paced the Green Archers with 18 points and eight rebounds while Torres scored a season-high 16 points, 13 coming in the last two periods. Julian Sargent tallied 11 points while rookies Andrei Caracut and Joshua Torralba finished with nine each.

Sarr had a double-double with 18 points and 16 rebounds in a losing effort for Adamson, which lost its fourth straight game in as many outings. Falcons guards Joseph Nalos added Harold Ng had 10 apiece.