UE hangs on, outlasts La Salle in UAAP 71

MANILA, Philippines – The University of the East (UE) Red Warriors survived the La Salle Green Archers’ furious end-game comeback to eke out a 68-62 win in Saturday’s University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) men’s basketball game at the Araneta Coliseum. The win pushed the Warriors’ record to 4-3 at the end of the first round of eliminations and somehow eased the painful memories of last year’s championship where they were swept by the Archers. Last year, UE went on to sweep the double elimination round phase going undefeated after 14 games only to lose to La Salle in the best-of-three finals, 2-0. The loss dropped the Archers’ record to 5-2 to fall one-game behind co-leaders Ateneo Blue Eagles and FEU Tamaraws, who both sport a 5-1 card. The Warriors nearly squandered a 16-point third quarter advantage as the Archers slowly trimmed the lead midway in the fourth period. Holding on to a 62-46 edge, going into the final quarter, the Warriors failed to stop a 10-2 Archers run as James Mangahas and rookie guard LA Revilla tried to revive La Salle’s fading hopes. The Warriors went scoreless for almost three minutes in that stretch before Hans Thiele ended the scoring drought by burying back-to-back baskets to bail UE out of trouble, 68-56. Still La Salle won’t go down without a fight. Consecutive split free throws by Joshua Webb and Revilla plus a Peejay Barua basket put the Archers still within striking distance with 2:11 left in the game clock. But that proved to be the game’s final tally as defense keyed the Warriors victory with Rudy Lingganay making a crucial stop off an Elmer Espiritu miss in the final seconds to preserve the win. James Martinez led the Warriors with 19 points behind a five-of-six shooting beyond the arc. He also had six rebounds and six assists. Paul Zamar backed him up with 12 points, four rebounds and an assist. The Archers missed several key players in their rotation with Simon Atkins being rushed to the hospital after a bad fall early in the game while Marko Batricevic was also out with an injury. Mangahas played hurt most of the game suffering from a sprained ankle while Rico Maierhoffer’s left knee had to be treated after bumping with another teammate. Earlier, host University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons snapped out of a five-game slide with a 76-68 win over the Adamson Falcons. Jay Agbayani, who also had eight rebounds and one assist, scored nine of his 20 points in the first half to lead the Maroons to their second win in seven games. The loss was the second straight and fifth overall for the Falcons against two wins. Woody Co added 15 points while Mark Lopez contributed 11 more to go with his eight rebounds. – GMANews.TV