FilOil: San Beda Red Lions silence La Salle Green Archers late

 

Facing a nine-point deficit in the last four minutes, the Red Lions pushed back by finding seams in the Archers' defense. Although they were held back by missed charities by Ola Adeogun, Baser Amer and Art Dela Cruz scored inside, and Francis Abarcar nailed a long two to cap an 8-2 run, 63-60, with two minutes and change remaining.

 

La Salle called timeout to regroup but Jeron Teng missed two easy looks. On the other end, Amer buried a turnaround jumper in the lane, and converted two charities after being fouled on the drive to seize a 64-63 lead with 42 ticks left.

 

Arnold Van Opstal was foiled on the block on DLSU's next possession, but an offensive rebound allowed them another crack at the lead. Vosotros tried a triple from the top of the circle but his attempt rimmed out, and Amer secured the loose ball. Norbert Torres then used his last foul on the point guard with 4.6 seconds left, and Amer sank the ensuing charities, 66-63.

 

The Archers advanced the ball to inbound from halfcourt for one last try, but Gabby Reyes' three-point attempt bounced off the front of the rim to preserve the win for the Red Lions.

 

"We were down at the start of the fourth and they didn't want to lose. Our defense stepped up in the fourth quarter," said San Beda coach Boyet Fernandez, who gave all the credit to his players for upping their game in the last few minutes.

 

Fernandez also had praise for Amer, who had been scoreless until their final run. "That's the product of a really good point guard. He played badly for three quarters but he stepped up when we really needed him," he said.

 

"This is huge for the school. It's been a lot of hard work, and we deserve to be in the semis," added Rome Dela Rosa.

 

Dela Cruz paced San Beda with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Dela Rosa added 12 points, while Ryusei Koga scattered 11. Amer finished with eight points and six rebounds.

 

San Beda finished third in Group A standings and seek to avenge their opening day loss against the NU Bulldogs, who escaped an upset against the Letran Knights earlier in the day, 69-67.

 

SBC and DLSU got going from midrange throughout the first quarter. Jeron Teng, Ryusei Koga and Rome Dela Rosa splashed shots for their respective sides, as the Red Lions led 14-12 with two and a half minutes to play. La Salle then faltered against San Beda's zone, and the latter took a 17-14 lead after the first period thanks to cutting plays by Dela Rosa and Ola Adeogun.

 

In the second period, San Beda exploited La Salle's interior for six straight points courtesy of Adeogun and David Semerad, forcing coach Gee Abanilla to call a timeout barely two minutes into the frame.

 

After several defensive stops, Teng found Arnold Van Opstal with a behind-the-back pass for a layup, capping the latter's 9-2 burst with Almond Vosotros to draw within two, 25-23. However the Archers couldn't keep up as they missed five of six from the free throw line in the final four minutes. Meanwhile Art Dela Cruz craftily scored six of the Red Lions' next eight to take a 33-26 lead into halftime.

 

The Red Lions shot 16-of-26 (62 percent) from the floor during the first half while holding La Salle to a 11-of-30 clip (37 percent).

 

 

When play resumed, the Archers zeroed in on attacking the basket, as Teng and Norbert Torres dropped nine points in an 11-4 run, knotting the game at 37-all. Dela Rosa replied with a pull-up jumper but his team eventually flagged when La Salle finally got their inside-out game going, as Vosotros buried a triple to cap a 9-2 run, as the Archers led 48-44 with three minutes remaining.

 

A jumper by Anthony Semerad cut the lead to two with under a minute left, and the Archers began to falter as Gabby Reyes and Jeron Teng split from the line. But La Salle controlled Teng's miss with 2.6 ticks left, which was enough time for LA Revilla to bury a triple at the buzzer to lead 53-46 at the end of the third.

 

San Beda improved their defense early in the fourth quarter, conceding only a Teng put-back to draw within three, 55-52. But with Adeogun in foul trouble they were susceptible down low, as Van Opstal had consecutive makes on the block, followed by Jason Perkins charities, to create a 61-52 spread with four and a half minutes to play.

 

The Red Lions finished with a 29-of-62 (47 percent) mark from the field, compared to the Archers' 24-of-60 (40 percent). The Archers howeder did lead in free throw attempts, shooting 12-of-19 (63 percent) versus San Beda's 7-of-11 (64 percent).

 

San Beda also won on the boards (42-33, including 11-8 offensive), in second-chance points (10-7) and turnover points (14-9).

 

Almond Vosotros led all scorers with 16 points on 7-of-15 shooting from the field. Jeron Teng added 15 points and five rebounds. Norbert Torres and Arnold Van Opstal both logged 10 points and five rebounds. - AMD/CLP, GMA News

The scores:
 

SBC 66: Dela Cruz 14, Dela Rosa 12, Koga 11, Amer 8, Adeogun 7, Pascual 4, D Semerad 4, Abarcar 2, A Semerad 2, Sara 2, Villaruz 0

 

DLSU 63: Vosotros 16, Teng 15, N Torres 10, Van Opstal 10, Perkins 6, Revilla 3, T Torres 2, G Reyes 1, Bolick 0, Montalbo 0, M Reyes 0, Dela Paz 0