UAAP: Vosotros put-back gives La Salle the win over Adamson in OT

(Updated 4:28pm) The Almond Vosotros-powered De La Salle University Green Archers started the second round of the UAAP regular season with a 70-69 overtime win over the Adamson University Falcons, Wednesday at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.

 

The win by the Archers evened their record at 4-4, while the host team Falcons fell to 3-5.

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

 

Vosotros trickled in a short floater after collecting an LA Revilla miss to give the Green Archers the lead with 1.8 second left in the game. Adamson head coach Leo Austria drew up a play but his Falcons were not able to run it. A bad inbounds pass resulted in a long three point attempt from Jericho Cruz that did not even come close to going in.

 

The fourth-year guard led La Salle with 19 points, scoring five in the overtime period including the game winner, along with nine rebounds and five assists.

 

Arnold Van Opstal added 13 markers off the bench, while Jeron Teng managed just nine. 

 

“I hope we can build on this game,” said La Salle head coach Juno Sauler. “After we saw our stats in the first round, we saw that our defense was bad. Our offense was so-so but our defense was dragging us down.”

 

After the long break due to the FIBA Asia Championship, the two teams took a while to get warmed up. The Falcons were the first to find their rhythm, getting out to an 8-2 lead, before Jason Perkins scored again for La Salle with a mid-range jumper. The two teams exchanged baskets, but eight straight by the Archers gave them the lead, 12-10, 2:29 left in the first. 

 

Adamson however quickly replied with a three-point play from Rodney Brondial and a fast break layup from Jericho Cruz to give Adamson a 15-12 lead. A goaltend by Ingrid Sewa handed DLSU two points, but Ar-rouf Julkipli ended the first quarter scoring with a split, for a 16-14 Adamson lead. 

 

After going 0-of-3 from the three-point range in the first 10 minutes of the game, Roider Cabrera finally broke through with a fadeaway jumper to start the second. As it turned out though, he'd be the only Falcon to score in the first seven and a half minutes of the second period, managing six markers to the 16 of DLSU, 30-22.

 

Trollano finally answered back for Adamson with an and-one play at the 2:25 mark. Cruz then sank a triple late in the first half to bring the La Salle lead down to four points at 34-30 heading into the break.

 

Although Adamson started well, they committed 11 turnovers in the first half which led to 14 points for La Salle.  Van Opstal and Vosotros had eight points apiece for La Salle while Trollano led Adamson with nine points at the half.
 

 

Ryan Monteclaro swished in a three at the 8:32 mark of the third, the first basket for either team in the second half. Cruz then added two free throws to give Adamson the lead at 35-34. But La Salle retaliated with five straight points from Vosotros and Teng to rebuild a four-point lead for La Salle at the 6:49 mark of the third, 39-35.

 

Brondial sank a long two at the 3:14 mark of the third to put Adamson ahead anew, 44-43, then a Van Opstal score was met by Ingrid Sewa, finally making his presence felt in the game with a dunk. However, the Green Archers refused to allow the Falcons to take the lead for long. A 7-1 run led by Norbert Torres allowed La Salle to head into the fourth quarter with a 52-47 lead.

 

Vosotros opened the fourth with a fast break layup, but Harry Petilos made back-to-back three's to trim the La Salle lead down to one at 54-53 with 7:01 left in the game.

 

Van Opstal scored on a hook shot to give La Salle some breathing room at 57-54, halfway into the fourth. Teng stretched their lead to five points as he made a layup off a side-step, but six straight from Brondial edged the Falcons ahead, 60-59, 1;16 left in regulation. 

 

After Torres was called for steps, the Falcons had a golden opportunity to pad their lead, but Adamson committed a shot clock violation. LA Revilla made them pay with a triple, La Salle up 62-60, with only 56 seconds left in the game. Luckily for Adamson, Brondial, who was having the game of his life, stepped up to tie the game at 62-all with two free throws.

 

After completing a stop, Adamson had multiple tries to win the ball game but Trollano rushed a three and Brondial’s jump hook rimmed out to send the game to overtime.

 

Cruz scored the first basket of extra time with a layup at the 3:19 mark, but a Vosotros triple swung the tide for La Salle 65-64.

 

The Green Archers left Monteclaro all alone for a layup for another lead change, but a split at the line by Torres reset the table at 66-all. Roider Cabrera sank a triple for a 69-66 count in Adamson’s favor.

 

Teng made a great play on the other end as he dished out a short pass for a Torres basket to cut Adamson’s lead down to a single point at 69-68. The Falcons had a chance to add to their total, but Monteclaro drove and dished out a pass to no one, giving the ball back to the Archers, 14 seconds left. 

 

LA Revilla's first attempt didn't connect, but the ball bounced to Vosotros who got the shot to go, 70-69, a second and change left.

 

Rodney Brondial had 19 points and a record 23 rebounds, tied for most in a game since 2003. Jericho Cruz managed 15 points, five dimes and three steals.

 

“Brondial had 10 offensive rebounds,” said Sauler. “That’s not only the fault of our bigs. It was about our team defense.”

 

Both sides were undermanned. DLSU played without Thomas Torres and Luigi Dela Paz, both due to flu-like symptoms, while Adamson lined-up sans rookie point guard Axel Iñigo (ankle).

 

The Archers ran the Falcons into the ground with an 11-2 edge in fast break points. They also turned Adamson's miscues into 23 points, while giving up just four turnover markers.  - AMD, GMA News