UAAP: Teng flubs freethrows as Tams trip Archers in OT

Jeron Teng missed crucial freethrows in the endgame as the FEU Tamaraws stayed unbeaten on Saturday with a 83-79 come-from-behind overtime win against the DLSU Green Archers at the Mall of Asia Arena.

The Tamaraws’ four-game unbeaten streak has them atop the standings (4-0) while the Green Archers fall to the middle of the pack with two wins and two losses (2-2).

[Review the play-by-play of this game here]

“It was a total team effort”, said FEU coach Nash Racela.

A three-pointer by Dela Paz with 2:30 left on the clock looked like it had sealed the deal for the Green Archers, but he and his teammates squandered the lead due to botched offensive possessions and missed free throws. The Tamaraws took advantage, mounting a 15-2 run, on the back of big plays by Terrence Romeo and Mac Belo down the stretch.

“La Salle had a very good gameplan,” said Racela, “[It] took us a while to adjust, but we had the players to execute.”

Romeo fired two quick triples, while Belo connected on a three-point play to cut their deficit to six points. FEU big man Carl Bryan Cruz drew a foul from DLSU guard Almond Vosotros and sank both free throws to further cut it further to four. Garcia then made a tough lay-up in traffic to inch them within two.

The FEU defense started fouling, sending Vosotros to the line. The veteran shooting guard missed both, and Belo scored on a short hook on the other end to even the game at 75. La Salle then failed to convert anything in the final seconds of the fourth.

In overtime, the Green Archers continued to struggle offensively, managing only four points and one field goal, while the Tams put up a substantial effort to put the game away. A lay-in by Garcia and a turnaround jumper by Pogoy drove a three-point wedge between both teams, and Teng made only two out of six free throws as his side dropped the game.

Romeo again had a stellar outing, tallying 25 points, four rebounds, and five assists, including the basket that gave them the lead in overtime. Garcia added 19 markers, five rebounds and three assists, while Belo had a double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds.

FEU’s offensive machine had the pedal to the metal early, as Roger Pogoy and Mike Tolomia blasted the Archer defense with an 8-2 run, sandwiched a short jumper by Teng. DLSU head coach Juno Sauler called for a timeout with a little over eight minutes to cut short FEU’s run, and the Archers responded with four quick points off a nifty hook by Jason Perkins and a short jumper by Teng, 8-6. FEU went on a 6-0 spurt though after La Salle’s conversions, as a lay-in by Romeo extended their lead to eight points, 14-6.

La Salle put up their own six-point burst off a three-point play by Teng and free throws by Van Opstal.  A split by Raymar Jose and a jumper by Tolomia sandwiched a lay-up by Teng, but the Archers built a seven-point surge to grab the lead at the end of the first frame, with two baskets by Teng and a triple by deadeye shooter Almond Vosotros, 21-17.

The surge continued to a stretch of 12 points early in the second quarter, after a triple by LA Revilla and another lay-in by Teng, 26-17. The Tams sprayed six points from Pogoy, Archie Iñigo, and RR Garcia to cut the Archer lead to 26-23, but a basket by Van Opstal and free throws by Perkins replenished La Salle’s advantage, 30-23. Two straight baskets from Romeo and Garcia sliced the lead to three, 30-27, prompting Sauler to press for time.

FEU started breathing on the Archers’ necks after straight jumpers from Hargrove and Romeo inched the Tams within one, and a put-back by Mac Belo finally swung the lead the Tams’ way. A turnaround jumper by Romeo widened the gap to three points, but a short stab by Van Opstal kept the lead at a single point. Both teams then failed to score in the final minute to cap off a 35-34 first half in favor of FEU.


The Tams went ahead by five early in the third thanks to six straight points from Belo and Garcia. After Van Opstal’s three-point play, FEU again pumped in five points from Romeo to go ahead by seven, 46-39, convincing Sauler to call for time with seven minutes left. The green-and-white slowly caught up, flattening the game at 48-all after free throws by Van Opstal.

The tail-end of the third quarter were fought tooth and nail, featuring six lead changes over the last four minutes, until a triple by Perkins and a basket by Teng made it a two-possession ballgame heading to the fourth, 58-54.

Thomas Torres converted on successive forays to the hoop, upping the lead to eight points, 62-54. The Archers led as much as 13 points after a triple by De La Paz from the left corner, but when Van Opstal was given a breather, La Salle failed to find the bottom of the ring in the last two and a half minutes.

Two triples by Romeo, a three-point play by Belo, free throws by Cruz and a lay-in Garcia all hacked away at La Salle’s lead, 75-73. Vosotros drew a foul but failed to convert anything from the line. After Belo scored on a stab inside, the Archers failed to convert anything, as the Tams’ effort sued for an extra five minutes.

FEU’s guard-oriented offense dominated the extra period, forcing Teng to take free throws and jump shots. La Salle managed only one field goal in overtime, a short stab by Van Opstal, while Teng added two points off free throws. Garcia and Romeo played the passing lanes perfectly to put the game away for their 4-0 record, 83-79.

Both teams put out almost equal efforts on rebounds, 52-51 in favor of La Salle, but it was DLSU's free throw shooting that resulted in the meltdown, as the team made only 13 out of 26 (50 percent). Teng made only three out of 11 attempts, while Vosotros missed the two most crucial free throws of the game.

Both Teng and Van Opstal scored season-highs, with the former registering 25 points, 15 rebounds and four assists, while the latter notched 20 points, 11 rebounds, and three blocks. Perkins followed suit with 10 points and 12 rebounds, while making 2-of-6 attempts from downtown. - RAF/AMD, GMA News


The scores:

FEU – Romeo 25, Garcia 19, Belo 10, Tolomia 9, Pogoy 9, Hargrove 4, Cruz 4, Mendoza 2, Jose 1, Sentcheu 0

DLSU – Teng 25, Van Opstal 20, Perkins 10, De La Paz 9, Vostros 8, Torres 4, Revilla 3, Torres 0, Tampus 0, Reyes 0, Montalbo 0, Bolick 0

Quarter scoring: 17-21, 35-34, 54-58, 75-75, 83-79