NORBERT Torres (middle) of La Salle draws a foul off a double team by FEU’s Arvie Bringas (left) and Anthony Hardgrove. Torres was head and shoulders above FEU’s big men and played a crucial role in the Archers’ victory. AUGUST DELA CRUZ
La Salle clawed back from 10 points down in the last six minutes then survived Far Eastern University’s last-gasp rally to hack out a 69-66 decision and clinch the last UAAP Final Four berth in the men’s basketball playoffs yesterday at Mall of Asia Arena.
Norbert Torres fueled the Green Archers’ stunning comeback, burying 11 of his 21 points in the final quarter of the knockout game that the Tamaraws controlled virtually most of the way.
“We had this dream of coming back to the Final Four, we had a golden chance to do it and we just refused to lose,” coach Gee Abanilla said of his Archers, who booked a return ticket to the semifinals after missing out last season.
La Salle, though, moves on to a tougher task as the Archers will clash with the four-time champion Ateneo Eagles in the Final Four at 4 p.m. this Saturday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
University of Santo Tomas and National University tangle in the other semifinal pairing at 12 noon.
Both the Blue Eagles and the Tigers hold a twice-to-beat advantage.
It looked like the Tamaraws—who dropped out of the Final Four for the first time in five years—had the game in the bag after erecting their first double-digit advantage, 60-50, going into the final six minutes.
But the Archers launched a huge 17-0 outburst, capped by a pair of three-point plays from Norbert Torres and rookie Thomas Torres that gave the Archers a 67-60 advantage with 38.6 seconds remaining.
“It boiled down to defense, we limited them to a number of points in the fourth quarter,” said Abanilla.
The Tamaraws struck back with Terrence Romeo and RR Garcia nailing back-to-back triples that trimmed the deficit to just a point, 67-66, with 30 ticks left.
La Salle rookie Jeron Teng split his free throws, 68-66, But the Tamaraws blew a huge chance in the next possession with Mike Tolomia getting slapped with a traveling violation.
The scores:
LA SALLE 69—N. Torres 21, Teng 15, Vosotros 9, Van Opstal 8, T. Torres 7, Mendoza 7, Andrada 2, Webb 0, Manguera 0, Tampus 0, Revilla 0.
FEU 66—Romeo 13, Bringas 12, Garcia 8, Hargrove 7, Pogoy 6, Belo 5, Escoto 4, Tolomia 2, Bringas 2, Sentcheu 0, Foronda 0, Cruz 0.
Quarters: 13-19, 28-35, 46-52, 69-66