Archers scrape past Bulldogs; Lions shore up playoff drive

La Salle hit the big baskets down the stretch to outlast gritty National University, 73-66, even as San Beda firmed up its chances for a playoff berth in the 12th Filoil Flying V Preseason Cup at Filoil Flying V Centre on Sunday.

Aljun Melecio regained his shooting touch in time for the Archers, and Jollo Go, Taane Samuel and Leonard Santillan also delivered to give La Salle its seventh win in eight games.

Misfiring all game, Melecio hit the triple that gave La Salle back the lead in the fourth, 54-53. The Bulldogs fought back with Dave Ildefonso tying the game for the last time at 56 with a triple.

The Red Lions crushed the University of the East Warriors, 73-50, in another match, rising to 5-2 and moving within a win of formalizing their entry to the next round.

San Beda opened the second half with a 12-0 run and left the Warriors eating its dust the rest of the way.

“I wanted to give everyone a chance to play in the first half,” said San Beda’s Boyet Fernandez in explaining the Lions’ slow start. “I wanted to see improvement in our execution on both offense and defense.”

Calvin Oftana led the Red Lions’ balanced attack with 14 points in 13 minutes of play. He was supported by Kenmark Carino with nine and AC Soberano with eight.

Jan Sobrevega paced the Red Warriors with 13 points built around three triples.

The Red Lions can clinch the fourth and last berth for Group A by beating against either Mapua or winless Emilio Aguinaldo.