Double basketball champion La Salle nails key UAAP victories

FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—La Salle boosted its double title defense in UAAP basketball by picking up key wins in both divisions last week.

The Lady Archers stayed perfect in four games to grab the solo lead, while the Green Archers rose from a 0-2 start with back-to-back victories to get back into the mix of contenders.

“In the UAAP, every win is important, so we’ll take this even if it’s not really a good win,” said La Salle ace Jeron Teng, who shone in the Archers’ thrilling twin triumphs over National University (57-55) and University of the East (60-58).

In women’s action, Nicole Garcia and Trisha Piatos led the Lady Archers to a 64-56 decision over the Lady Warriors.

Garcia fired 12 of her 14 points in the second half and grabbed eight rebounds, while Piatos added 10 points, six boards and three assists coming off the bench.

The Lady Bulldogs also stayed unbeaten at 3-0 following a 59-50 tripping of Ateneo behind a combined 25 points by Shelley Gupilan and Afril Bernardino.

Teng, named as the UAAP Press Corps-Accel Quantum Plus/316 Player of the Week, showcased more than his scoring prowess in the Archers’ successive wins.

Displaying fine playmaking, Teng issued decisive assists in the Archers’ game-winning plays against the Bulldogs last Wednesday and the Warriors on Sunday.

“That (playmaking) is what our team needs right now,” said Teng as his Archers try to cope with the absence of injured starting guard Thomas Torres.

Teng posted a game-high five assists, the last a clever inbound feed to Jason Perkins, who nailed the deciding basket with 6.7 seconds left against the Bulldogs.

Four days later, Teng again starred in crucial plays in the last two minutes versus the Warriors, making a couple of drop passes to rookie Prince Rivero, who shot five of the Archers’ last seven points.

“In the end, we were just trying to look for the open guy,” said Teng.