La Salle bows down to Ateneo, ends championship bid

The De La Salle Green Archers ended a championship bid, suffering a 63-66 loss against the Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles last September 29 at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum in the their Final Four semifinal matchup.

The defeat ended the Archers’ promising late season, which saw the team barge into the top four after finishing sixth last season.

“Coming from a 5-9 record last year, [then] entering the Final Four [this season], I think the boys really did a good job. The coaching staff, Coach Juno Sauler, Coach Mac [Cuan], Coach Jun [Limpot], we were instrumental in transforming this team and it’s just [that] we fell short, but I guess this was still a good game,” said DLSU Head Coach Gee Abanilla after the game.

Yutien Andrada led the Archers as he contributed 17 points, six rebounds and three blocks in his finest game of the season, while Almond Vosotros and Jeron Teng were hounded into low shooting percentages.

Vosotros, the third year guard, managed 14 points, six rebounds and seven assists, but only managed to convert 33 percent of his field goals; he also failed to make a single free throw. Rookie of the Year Jeron Teng ended the game with 12 points, seven rebounds and four assists, but converted just five out of 18 field goal attempts.

On the other hand, Kiefer Ravena led the defending champions with a game-high of 28 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists while graduating forward Nico Salva added 12 points, an assist and a block.

Final quarter meltdown

Ravena mounted a comeback after the Archers established an 11-point lead, 49-38, to open the fourth quarter.

The “Phenom” dropped 16 of his 28 points to ignite a 20-6 rally, highlighted by a triple to regain the lead for the Eagles at 58-55 with four minutes left. The Archers managed to mount an attack, but failed to gain momentum and after an Ateneo timeout, La Salle tasted it’s last lead of the game, 62-61, with 1:12 minutes left via a Vosotros layup.

Ryan Buenafe hit the go-ahead three-pointer with just 55 seconds remaining to give Ateneo the lead for good, 64-62.

The Taft-based squad had a chance to take back the lead as Kiefer Ravena was called for an unsportsmanlike foul on Teng with 15 seconds left to play.

The rookie from Xavier School split his charities to cut the lead to one, 63-64, but the Archers failed to score on the ensuing possession after the ball slipped from Teng, with three seconds left in the game.

Buenafe then got fouled on the inbound and split his ensuing free throws to give the Eagles a three-point cushion, giving La Salle the chance to make an equalizing basket. Norbert Torres, however, missed a desperate three-point shoot as the time expired.

Coach Abanilla pointed out,“I think, in the end, we don’t have that experience so na-outsmart din kami nung huli. We don’t have the answer for Ravena in this game, di namin nabantayan for 28 points.”

Frontcourt efforts

In a game that featured eight deadlocks and 12 lead changes, DLSU’s Andrada was one of the catalysts as he made his presence felt on both ends of the floor.

During the team’s big run in the third quarter, the former San Sebastian Staglet dominated the paint as he hit a number of his patented under goal shots, contributing seven points to the team.

He also made the boys from Katipunan work hard for their shots as he tallied in three blocks and six rebounds.

“Really quality minutes, no turnovers, 17 points, a recipient of a lot of drop passes and he was operating inside and the perimeter, very good development for him,” praised Coach Abanilla.

The Archers also limited seven-footer Greg Slaughter to just four points, a testament to the team’s commitment on the defensive end.

Consistently bothered by the twin tower duo of Norbert Torres and Arnold Van Opstal, the former University of Visayas standout was held scoreless until the beginning of the fourth quarter after seeing double teams and relentless defenders. The Cebuano shot just two-for-nine from the field for the afternoon.

It was not just Slaughter who struggled; the other Ateneo centers also failed to hoist quality shots. This resulted to a combined eight points from Slaughter, Frank Golla and Justin Chua despite averaging a combined 20 points per game during the eliminations.

 

La Salle also shared the similar statistics with the Eagles as the pair of Norbert Torres and Van Opstal only managed to score six and three points respectively despite dominating the last game against FEU. The emergence of Andrada negated the need for them to take over offensively and allowed them to concentrate their efforts in containing Ateneo’s marquee bigs.

A back-and-forth affair

The Archers and Eagles went back and forth in the opening quarter as Teng and Nico Salva scored six points apiece for their respective squads.

Ateneo had the edge though as La Salle found itself down, 12-14, after the first 10 minutes of play.

La Salle took control early in the second quarter, leading 26-23 after Almond Vosotros drained a triple. Ateneo then answered back with eight straight points to close the half, taking a 31-26 lead.

The Archers then took control in the beginning of the second half, outscoring the Eagles, 21-7. Andrada was relentless on the inside, scoring seven points in the period to lead La Salle to a 47-38 advantage to begin the final quarter.

Breaks of the game

Both teams went toe-to-toe for most of the game, shooting an identical 34 percent from the field. La Salle even shot better from the free throw line at 66 percent as compared to Ateneo’s 62 percent.

The Eagles edged the Archers by just two rebounds, 43-45, but the Green-and-White squad had more blocked shots, 7-6. Moreover, La Salle recorded 11 turnovers; one more than Ateneo, but both teams tallied 17 assists.

Bench production came in favor of the Abanilla-mentored squad with his wards tallying in 33 points compared to Ateneo’s seven points.  Depth off the bench has been one of the Archers’ strengths this season while Ateneo relies heavily on its starting unit.

After missing his first five attempts from beyond the arc, it was Buenafe’s corner triple which swung the momentum in favor of the Katipunan-based squad.

The future is bright

Despite the loss, this season has been a major turnaround from the boys from Taft Avenue.

With a young team, which will almost be intact next year, a formidable system enforced by a respected coaching staff and this year’s experience under the players’ belts, La Salle is a team to watch out for next season.

“One thing good that I noticed [was] that the crowd, the Lasallian community, is active again and we’re very happy about that. So if we continue to have good support from the community, if we improve the things that we have to improve on, I’m foreseeing a better season next year. You value discipline, you value camaraderie, friendship and I think that makes a holistic approach to the players,” the Archers’ mentor optimistically concluded.

The game held last September 29 was Jovet Mendoza’s and Joshua Webb’s last game as Archers.

 

 

The scores:
DLSU (63) – Andrada 17, Vosotros 14, Teng 12, N. Torres 6, T. Torres 5, Tampus 4, Van Opstal 3, Mendoza 3, Webb 0, Revilla 0.

ADMU (66) – Ravena 28, Salva 12, Buenafe 10, Tiongson 5, Slaughter 4, Chua 4, Sumalinog 3, Pessumal 0, Gonzaga 0, Golla 0, Elorde 0.

Quarter scores: 12-14, 26-31, 47-38, 63-66.