MANILA, Philippines—Rey Suerte stayed true to his name as he willed University of the East past De La Salle, 89-88, for its first win in the UAAP Season 82 men’s basketball tournament Saturday at Mall of Asia Arena.
The fifth year forward drilled back-to-back clutch three-pointers to fueled the Red Warriors’ upset of the Green Archers, who played without the injured Jamie Malonzo.
Suerte’s three first gave UE the 85-85 lead with 15.4 seconds to play but Aljun Melecio answered with a triple of his own with 10.8 seconds left, giving La Salle the 88-86 bubble.
Shrugging off the pressure-packed atmosphere, Suerte positioned himself once more on the right wing and drilled another trey with 3.2 seconds left.
“One word, Suerte. Swerte lang,” (One word, Suerte. We were lucky) said UE active consultant Lawrence Chongson, playing off his players’ last name.
Chongson added that Suerte’s outside shots late in the game were designed off of the Houston Rockets’ spread out offense, with four players waiting for their shots in the perimeter leaving just one big man near the basket.
“We spread our offense a little bit and I made Jeremy Cruz as a stretch four to draw out La Salle’s big man,” said Chongson. “It was a risk we took but big time players make the big time shots.”
UE held a 79-72 early in the fourth but La Salle slowly chipped at it with an 11-2 run to take an 83-81 lead with 1:07 left to play.
Suerte finished with 31 points, on 5-of-7 shooting from deep, with seven rebounds, and three assists while Neil Tolentino and Cruz had 19 and 13 points, respectively.
Justine Baltazar had 21 points and 17 rebounds while Melecio had his own 21-point performance for the Green Archers as they fell to a 1-2 record.
POST-GAME INTERVIEW