La Salle nips Adamson, advances to UAAP finals

FILE—Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

Top seed De La Salle took one step closer to the promised land after disposing of pesky Adamson, 69-64, in the Final Four of the UAAP Season 79 seniors’ basketball tournament Wednesday at Mall of Asia Arena.

The Green Archers, regarded as the strongest team this season with the addition of Ben Mbala, are now just two games away from that coveted title.

La Salle now waits for the winner between defending champions Far Eastern University and Ateneo.

Jeron Teng gave the Green Archers a 67-64 lead with 2:21 left and that mark stood for more than two minutes as both teams could not find a good enough look in the offensive end.

Despite the win, Green Archers head coach Aldin Ayo blasted his team’s effort on both ends of the floor, pointing out the horrible 3-to-26 assist-turnover ratio.

“We played bad today. I won’t let that happen again,” said a pissed off Ayo. “It’s all about winning the championship. I told them you have to be accountable and do your part.”

Adamson had several chances to tie the game after Teng’s basket but all the Falcons did was hoist up triples.

The Falcons had the ball with 56.9 seconds left in the game after Ben Mbala turned it over, but the clock would wind down without a single basket. Teng iced the game for La Salle at the foul line at the 10.1 seconds left.

Teng led the offensive charge for La Salle with 25 points but committed seven turnovers in the first half alone while Mbala added 21 points and grabbed 16 rebounds.

Sean Manganti led the Falcons with 13 points while Rob Manalang and Papi Sarr had 12 and 11 points, respectively.