Green Archers continue skid, stand at 2-3

Mano-a-mano, brother versus brother, Teng vs. Teng, the seasoned Tigers vs. the young Archers.

In their very first collegiate game against each other, rookie sensation Jeron Teng may have outplayed his older brother Jeric, but the latter came up big for the Espana-based squad to overcome the Green Archers in a double overtime thriller, 84-82.

After starting the season scoring back-to-back wins over the UP Fighting Maroons and the UE Red Warriors for the Taft-based squad’s best start since 2007, the Archers dropped a nail-biter to league leader Far Eastern University followed by a heart-breaker against archrival Ateneo.

This win by the Tigers put them at third in the team standings as the Green Archers skid to a 2-3 card at 5th in the league.

“We liked the effort that everyone put up even if there was a stage that we were down by 10, they kept fighting and fighting, and they want that to be carried in their next games,” noted Green Archers Assistant Coach Juno Sualer.

From tip off, the Archers and Tigers played with breathtaking determination, trading basket after basket. The first half ended with the Archers barely leading the Tigers, 30-29.

After the break, the Tigers came out firing in an attempt to bust the game wide open. UST’s gunslinger Clark Bautista nailed 11 of his team-high 21 points anchored on his 6-of-9 shooting from the three point territory. The Tigers’ aggressive attack gave them an eight-point advantage going into the fourth period.

Led by skipper LA Revilla and Teng, the Archers dug deep to weather the storm. Mounting on a furious fourth quarter rally, the Taft-based squad went head to head against their more experienced counterparts, trading basket after basket. The Archers looked to pull off a victory under the Tigers’ noses.

With four seconds remaining in regulation, Revilla shocked UST’s Jeric Fortuna and launched a floater that could have won the game for the Archers, but instant replay showed the he released the shot a split second after the buzzer sounded, sending the game into overtime.

UST forward Aljon Mariano poured in 7 of the 9 points of the Tigers in overtime. After struggling for most of the game, DLSU center Norbert Torres scored the basket, which knotted the game at 80. With a second to go, UST’s Mariano took it to the basket; it was denied by Yutien Andrada, again sending the game into a second overtime.

The second overtime proved to be a struggle for survival; fatigue and errors proved costly. UST’s veteran savvy also came into to play as an Andrada attempt that could’ve sent the game into a third overtime was blocked by the Tigers’ Nigerian center, Karim Abdul as the buzzer sounded to conclude matters.

The Archers dominated the game from a defensive standpoint taking away six blocks to UST’s three. The Archers had seven steals to the Tigers’ four. The Archers’ 49.7 percent from the field was by far better than the Tiger’s 38 percent. The Archers, however, shot poorly from the stripe as the team muffed 14 free throw attempts, four of which missed during the second extension, which could have changed the outcome of the game.

LA Revilla paced DLSU with 19 points as Jeron Teng poured in 17 points and 12 rebounds. Yutien Andrada maintained his consistency, scoring 16 markers while Joshua Webb, another man in green who scored in double digits has 13 under his name, his highest output in the season.

Unfortunately for the Taft men, all of their efforts turned into a nightmare after a two-point margin defeat.

BOXSCORE:

UST 84—Bautista 21, Abdul 16, Mariano 15, Teng 9, Fortuna 8, Afuang 8, Ferrer 5, Pe 2, Lo 0, Daquioag 0.

DLSU 82—Revilla 19, Teng 17, Andrada 16, Webb 13, N. Torres 7, Manguera 6, Van Opstal 2, Tallo 2, T. Torres 0, Dela Paz 0.

Quarter Scores: 15-17; 29-30; 56-48; 71-71; 80-80; 84-82