FilOil: Archers come close to century mark, bury Southwestern U

(Updated 4:27pm) Dressed in a green and white shirt, a pair of heavyset earphones, and a pair of Nikes , a 6’8” teenager from Cameroon could only watch as his new team trampled his former team. This, so far, has been life for the Southwestern University Cobras after the departure of Ben Mbala. Mbala's new team, the De La Salle University Green Archers, came close to hiting 100 points, before settling for a 98-61 drubbing of SWU, Saturday at the FilOil Flying V Arena, in the FilOil Flying V Hanes Preseason Cup. The Archers shot a fiery 57 percent from the field, including a 31-of-54 clip from inside the arc, and 8-of-14 from downtown. DLSU also handed out 23 assists, and finished with a 37-point advantage. The one-sided affair was DLSU's second win of the tourney. SWU on the other hand remained winless after three outings. Southwestern scored the first three points of the game, but that would be the only scores they’d put out in the first five minutes of the game, as La Salle found their offensive rhythm, going up by 10 points, 13-3, after a reverse lay-up by Yutien Andrada. A jumper by Francis Ortega would provide the next spurt of offense for SWU, but the green side barraged them with their streaky offense, spearheaded by Vosotros, who went for 13 points in the first quarter alone. A triple by the veteran guard capped off an 11-0 run and closed out the first quarter at 28-10. SWU managed a better offensive showing in the second quarter, but it was an exercise in futility, as the Archers continued their offensive onslaught, playing perfect team basketball and finding the open man for the easy baskets. This time, the DLSU offense centered on Norbert Torres, who utilized his inside-outside game well en route to a 12-point output in the second period. Midway into the quarter, 6’8” center Arnold Van Opstal found himself open for a slam over Cameroonian Fabrice Siewe. The SWU offense relied on Siewe for easy buckets in the paint, but the big man had difficulties throwing his weight around Torres, Van Opstal, and Andrada. Although they managed 23 points, every basket was a counter to La Salle’s. La Salle managed 55 points before the half, with Torres and Vosotros combining for 29 points. Vosotros shot a 3-3 clip from downtown, while Torres made seven out of 10 attempts, along with five rebounds. With their height and heft, DLSU lorded over the rebounds at the break, out-rebounding SWU 21-10. The Archers had a more fluid offense, logging 16 assists by the break. The team shot an impressive 64 percent from the floor, making 65 percent of their two-point baskets and 57 percent on their long-ranged tries. The Cobras, meanwhile, had mediocre stats, but were at least efficient from two-point distance (57 percent). However, the SWU offense relied heavily on three-point shooting, where they found difficulty connection from the field, making only one of seven (14 percent). Monbert Arong top-scored for the Cobras with eight, while Siewe scored seven points by the half. The blowout continued in the third, as it seemed like the La Salle players had mapped their side's sequence of scoring. First, it was starting point guard Thomas Torres who provided the first blows, scoring five quick markers to neutralize SWU’s same output. Then it was starting two-guard Jarelan Tampus, who dropped seven within a span of a minute and 30 seconds. The lead had ballooned to 28 points by then, after Tampus’ third lay-in, 73-45. The Cobras struggled putting up points on the board again, this time plugging in Justin Aboude for Siewe. The move did not have the intended impact however, as Aboude only managed to get free throws, with nary a single field goal. The third quarter ended at 78-49. Seeing an insurmountable lead, both teams’ offenses lost gas in the fourth quarter, with La Salle and Southwestern scoring 20 and 12, respectively. The Archers toyed with their offense, attempting fancy shots. In one specific sequence, Gabby Reyes flipped a tough lay-in sandwiched between two Perkins triples. On the game's last possession, the Archers could have tried to go for 100 points, but head coach Gee Abanilla signaled his boys to let the time run out. Mbala, who drew a ton of attention from Manila-based teams during SWU's stint last year in the PCCL tourney, is set to suit up in 2015 for DLSU, after sitting out the new mandatory two-year residency rule imposed by the UAAP. Vosotros was adjudged the best player of the game, leading his side with 17 points, in addition to four rebounds and five assists. Norbert Torres scored 15, Jason Perkins added 12, while Gabby Reyes managed 10. Only two Archers, rookies Yankee Harua and Robert Bolick, did not score the entire game. Monbert Arong was on top of the score sheet for the Cobras, with 12 points, the only player to have scored more than 10 points for the Cobras. He was followed by Bernie Bregondo with nine, and Siewe and Aboude with seven points apiece. - AMD, GMA News The scores: 
 DLSU – Vosotro 17, N. Torres 16, Perkins 12, Reyes 10, Tampus 9, Teng 6, Andrada 6, Paredes 5, Montalbo 4, T. Torres 3, M. Reyes 2, Herrera 2, Bolick 0, Haruna 0 SWU – Arong 13, Bregondo 9, Siewe 7, Aboude 7, Goloran 6, Ortega 5, Holper 5, Pajantoy 4, Panerio 3, Otida 2, Guillena 0, Bautista 0, Acuno 0, Escobio 0, Lopez 0 Quarter scoring: 28-10, 55-33, 78-49, 98-61