MANILA, Philippines—Blue-chip rookie Jeron Teng came up huge as La Salle nipped rival Ateneo, 62-59, in overtime Saturday night in the Filoil Flying V Pre-Season Cup at the Arena in San Juan.
Teng, a prized recruit from Xavier known for his offensive prowess, faked his defender then uncorked a trey to send the game into overtime and led the Green Archers with 17 points.
Starring guard LA Revilla, who also chipped in 16 points, gave La Salle a headstart in OT with a booming triple while La Salle leaned on its freethrow shooting for the remainder of the game.
Though the Archers missed 17 attempts from the stripe, freebies from Revilla Teng, Norbert Torres — who had 13 points and 19 boards — provided them with the breather in extra time.
La Salle, which is assured of a quarterfinals berth with the loss of Letran earlier, faces San Sebastian on Wednesday while Ateneo tangles with FEU.
But the game was nearly snatched out of the Archers’ hands by the surging Blue Eagles, who used a tremendous fourth quarter rally to finally take the drivers’ seat.
Kiefer Ravena had a good look and hoisted a triple at the buzzer, which could have sent the game into another overtime, but it rattled out.
The Blue Eagles, who played sans seven-foot center Greg Slaughter, played catch up most of the night and even trailed 20-31 early in the third.
Ryan Buenafe starred in the comeback as he dropped five straight points to tie the game before a nfity jumper from Kiefer Ravena gave Ateneo the lead, 49-47, with 2:27 left.
Buenafe finished with 21 points and four rebounds while Ravena added 14 points and six rebounds.