After suffering their first loss in the Fil-Oil Flying V Preseason Cup and having their five-game winning streak snapped, the DLSU Green Archers bounced back with a dominant rout of the CSJL Knights to improve their record to six wins and one loss.
Almond Vosotros led the Green Archers with 16 points and seven rebounds, highlighted by three straight three point field goals in the final period to put the game out of reach from the Knights. Up by seven points with 5:56 remaining in the game, Vosotros hit a triple to extend the lead to ten. The streaky guard then hit two more three pointers in the ensuing possessions and the lead was up to 16 points in a span of just a minute and a half.
La Salle would not look back from that point on and won convincingly, 64-45, to join the ADMU Blue Eagles at the top of Group B with identical records going into their matchup onJune 1 at the Arena in San Juan at 4 pm.
Jeron Teng added 11 points and three assists while the post tandem of Norbert Torres and Arnold van Opstal combined for 13 points and 20 rebounds.
Early on, the sophomore tandem of Thomas Torres and Teng sparked the Green Archers to a 6-0 start to begin the game. La Salle would lead, 20-13, at the end of the first ten minutes of the game after eight players contributed in the scoring department, led by Vosotros’ five early points.
Coach Gee Abanilla and his wards failed to pull away though and the Knights tied the game twice in the second quarter before La Salle regained composure and led by 5, 30-25, at halftime.
DLSU kept their lead stable in the third quarter and extended it to 40-33 by the end of the third period. The teamwork of the Green Archers was a major factor in the quarter and eleven players contributed at least two points apiece with no one exceeding five by that point of the game. The balanced attack of Abanilla’s squad made it difficult for Letran to mark La Salle and this opened up their defense, opening the door for their torrid rally late in the game.
Despite shooting just 62 percent from the free throw line, La Salle made up for it by dominating the rebounds, grabbing 50 while Letran collected just 34. They also finished with 18 assists on 21 made field goals, redeeming themselves after recording just ten assists in their last outing.
The Scores:
DLSU– Vosotros 16, Teng 11, N. Torres 7, van Opstal 6, T. Torres 4, Perkins 4, G. Reyes 4, Bolick 4, Salem 4, dela Paz 2, Paredes 2
CSJL– Cruz 10, Gabawan 8, Nambatac 7, Castro 7, Luib 4, Ruaya 3, Publico 2, Almazan 2, Almario 2
Quarter scores: 20-13, 30-25, 40-33, 64-45
