UAAP: Green Archers survive late Fighting Maroons threat

(Updated 12:17am) Up by 16 points with two minutes left to play in the third quarter, the De La Salle University Green Archers thought they had the game well in hand. Ten minutes later, they were the ones scrambling to stay alive. The University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons came close to upsetting La Salle, but the Archers managed to score the game's last six points, on route to a 73-68 debut in the 75th UAAP season, Sunday at SM Mall of Asia Arena. "A lot of first game jitters", said new De La Salle head coach Gee Abanilla. "My players were affected by the lights. It's a period of adjustment. Hindi pa maganda ang combinations namin, at hindi maganda ang outcome". For a team that finished in the basement last season, Coach Ricky Dandan and his Fighting Maroons managed to hold their ground in the first quarter, trailing by only a point, before taking the lead at the 9:16 mark of the second on two free throws by rookie Henry Asilum, 18-17. La Salle however came back to establish a seven-point lead at the break, 35-29, which they grew to as high as 16, 56-40, in the third quarter, making it appear as though UP was headed for a crushing defeat. Instead, a 15-2 run by State U spanning two quarters got them within three points, 58-55, before bluechip rookie Jeron Teng hit back-to-back shots to quell their rally. In the 11th hour, another UP explosion, with four coming from Silungan and five from the returning Alvin Padilla, actually gave them an 11th hour lead, 68-67, with 44 seconds left. But that was the Maroons' last hurrah, as Teng made up for missing three charities on their prior possession with an and-one play, in which he nailed the freebie, 70-68, 27 seconds left in the game. The Maroons attempted a desperation triple by last season's Most Improved Player Jett Manuel, but it was blocked by Yutien Andrada. Unable to convert anything offensively, the Maroons resorted to fouling, while DLSU did due diligence and sank their free throws. "They got a lot out of transition," said coach Abanilla. "They were very efficient on the break." The Fil-Canadian Torres led his team with a double-double of 16 points and 14 rebounds, plus three assists and three blocks. Teng started slow but finished with 15 points on 13 attempts. LA Revilla stuffed the stat sheet with 15 markers, 11 rebounds, seven dimes and two steals, while Yutien Andrada came off the bench for 10 points, seven boards and two rejections. UP drew an 18 point outing from Mike Silungan, and 12 points from rookie Henry Asilum, but the team as a whole shot just 31.6 percent from the field, compared to the Archers' 40.3 clip. The Maroons did however make all 14 of their foul shots, while DLSU was 18-of-27 from the free throw line. The win put DLSU in the early list of winners, and they'll try to add to build an early streak when they next play the UE Red Warriors, who were blown out on opening day by host school NU. UP on the other hand will look to bounce back versus the UST Growling Tigers next Saturday. - AMD, GMA News The scores: DLSU 73 - Torres 16, Teng 15, Revilla 15, Andrada 10, Dela Paz 9, Mendoza 6, Webb 2, Van Opstal 0, Paredes 0, Vosotros 0, Gotladera 0, Tallo 0, Manguera 0 UP 68 - Silungan 18, Asilum 12, Lopez 10, Soyud 8, Padilla 7, Manuel 5, Ball 4, Romero 2, Hipolito 2, Wierzba 0, Montecastro 0, Gamboa 0, Gallarza 0 Quarter scoring: 17-16, 35-29, 56-46, 73-68