Archers stumble as Bulldogs capture title; Torres part of Mythical Five

All good things come to an end.

After pulling off an impressive three-game winning streak against three marquee teams, the De La Salle Green Archers saw the end of their magical run as the National University Bulldogs claimed the title in a heartbreaking 64-54 loss in this year’s FilOil Flying V Preseason Hanes Cup yesterday at the Arena last tuesday in San Juan.

Norbert Torres, part of this year’s Mythical Five, scored 13 points and grabbed 5 rebounds while L.A. Revilla added 14 points and 6 rebounds for the Archers who struggled all-game long with the tight NU defense.

Aside from Torres, Bobby Ray Parks and Emmanuel Mbe from NU, Ateneo’s Kiefer Ravena and Greg Slaughter completed the FilOil Mythical Five cast.

Mbe was also conferred with the Defensive Player of Year award in the tourney, while Parks was named MVP.

The Bulldogs pulled away after an impressive 20-point fourth quarter surge, starting with a couple of treys by Mbe and Kevin Neypes to break the game wide open.

FilOil MVP Parks delivered the final blow after cashing in a triple over Jeron Teng with less than a minute left in regulation to swell the led 57-52.

Bulldog Jeoff Javillonar extended the lead after putting back Mbe’s miss 42.5 seconds left in regulation.

Parks and Mbe combined for a massive 42 points and 19 rebounds as National U achieved a historical 11-0 record en route to their first-ever FilOil championship.

“Parks is a good player talaga, a good individual player. He is unstoppable,” DLSU point guard L.A. Revilla said.

Being contained by the solid zone defense of the Bulldogs all-game long, La Salle was outrebounded 47-41 and only managed to go to the foul line five times, while National U earned more trips as they went there 15 times.

“They [NU] played a lot of zone [defense] and we were forced to take outside shots. I think we have to take it more inside,” said Archers Head Coach Gee Abanilla.

Rookie Jeron Teng couldn’t buy enough buckets as he tallied a pedestrian four points on a rough 11 percent shooting.

National U got off to a quick 6-2 start in the opening period thanks to their fast-paced style of play forcing the Archers to call an early timeout.

The men from Taft responded with a 12-6 blitz earning their first lead after a lay-up by Fonzo Gotladera to put them up 14-12. The opening quarter ended 16-15 in favor of the Archers.

La Salle seemed to pull away for good after igniting a 10-1 run in the second canto, leading by as much as 26-18 after a basket from Revilla. They went scoreless for the last three minutes of the quarter as Parks and company had their own 10-0 run, ending with a slim 28-26 halftime lead.

The Bulldogs caught fire early in the third period after Dennice Villamor and Gelo Alolino notched seven early points, leading to a 35-28 advantage.

The trio of Torres, Yutien Andrada, and Teng led a 10-4 scoring run after a timeout to trim the lead 39-38 after.

Making this deep run in the preseason has shown big leaps after the Taft-based squad had a total overhaul of their coaching staff.

With their renewed passion with their good mix of veterans and young guns, they are heading into the UAAP Season with their hopes raised high.

“We’ve been stressing to the boys that we are not that strong as a team, but ang puhunan namin dito is hardwork and disclipine. I think the boys bought in to that, and they’re really working hard in practice and in games and it showed some success,” concluded Coach Abanilla.

Quarter scores: 15-16, 28-26, 44-41, 64-54