Green Archers tangle with CEU for the top spot of the FilOil tourney

The De La Salle Green Archers look to continue their hot streak even as the summer winds down.

After losing their first game to the San Beda Red Lions, the Green Archers have been on a run, stringing up five consecutive wins that resulted to the team sharing the top spot in the FilOil Flying V Hanes Premier Cup Group B. Tomorrow, May 30, they put their streak on the line as they face a dangerous foe in the form of NAASCU powerhouse, the CEU Scorpions, at the San Juan Arena at 5 pm.

Owning the momentum

The Taft-based squad just came off a convincing victory over the Mapúa Cardinals last Wednesday; defeating them 96-86 behind solid performances from Prince Rivero and Thomas Torres. The sophomore forward Rivero put up 22 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, despite a taller opponent in Cardinals import Allwell Oraeme. On the other hand, Torres scored 21 markers, snatched five boards, and dished out five assists for an all-around performance.

As of press time, the CEU Scorpions also played well all tournament long, as they sport the same win-loss record of 5-1. Along the way, the NAASCU champions won games against squads from the UAAP and the NCAA, with NCAA Champions San Beda as one of their victims. Their latest victory came against the UST Growling Tigers, 82-77, a week ago. Big man Alfred Batino led the Scorpions with 20 points.

In a mid-season statistics summary released last May 25, several players from both teams entered the top 10 of some statistical categories. Archer Rookie Andrei Caracut and Scorpion Rodel De Leon both made the scoring and three point conversions list. Caracut, who ranks fifth, is scoring 18 points per game on three-pointers alone, while De Leon, ranking seventh, is averaging 16 markers on 2.6 triples per contest. In addition, Caracut also leads the league in three-point field goal percentage.

In other departments, Rivero and CEU import Rodrigue Ebondo are both in the rebounding leaders list. Ebondo ranked in at third with 12.5 boards per game, while Rivero grabs an average of 10.5 rebounds per game, which earned him the fifth place. On the assist column, CEU’s Mon Abundo clocks in at second place with 5.5 assists per game. Torres and Jeron Teng are fourth and sixth on the list with 4.0 and 3.6 dimes average per game, respectively.

With so many positional match-ups to look forward to, look for an exciting game between these two teams. Individual stat sheets will definitely be stuffed right after the game, but it will be the team that comes out on top who will have the bragging rights in the league.