Thomas Torres continued his breakout preseason campaign as he led the DLSU Green Archers’ fast-paced attack in their 84-71 win over the FEU Tamaraws in the FilOil Flying V Hanes Premier Cup semifinals earlier today.
The Green Archers, who entered this year’s preseason tournament as the defending champions, will aim for back-to-back titles against the same team they faced in last year’s finals: the NCAA champion San Beda Red Lions.
After the win, DLSU head coach Juno Sauler hardly seemed satisfied with the win and reiterated the need to continue preparing for this year’s UAAP wars as he said, “[We need to keep] working on the things we need to work on going into the UAAP.”
Torres, who was relentless in pushing the pace in transition and slicing through FEU’s defense in the half court, finished with 18 points, 10 rebounds, six assists, and three turnovers for La Salle. Jeron Teng led the Green Archers in scoring with 19 points, but needed 22 field goal attempts and made just five of his 10 free throw attempts.
Abu Tratter was a consistent force in the middle on both ends of the floor and he finished with 12 points and five rebounds, while Jason Perkins and Andrei Caracut tallied 11 and nine points, respectively.
Roger Pogoy had a game-high 22 points and grabbed eight rebounds, but it was not enough to lift FEU. Raymar Jose had 12 points and 14 rebounds while Mike Tolomia finished with 11 points, three rebounds, and eight assists to support Pogoy. However, no other Tamaraw scored more than five points.
La Salle was without the services of sophomore forward Prince Rivero while FEU lacked head coach Nash Racela and star forward Mac Belo. All three are currently representing the Philippines as members of the Men’s Basketball Team in the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Singapore.
The Green Archers raced out to an early lead, finishing the opening period with a 14-point advantage, 26-12. Teng hit a contested jumper off an isolation play to beat the quarter buzzer–his seventh and eighth points of the period.
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The onslaught continued in the second quarter as the Green Archers blitzed FEU and took a 20-point lead, their biggest of the afternoon, off a putback from Tratter midway through the period. The backcourt of Torres and the rookie Caracut controlled the tempo for much of the quarter, but the Tamaraws did not falter. Tolomia and Pogoy spearheaded FEU’s charge to end the quarter and they trailed La Salle by just 13 at halftime, 42-29.
Both teams went back and forth in the third quarter despite the efforts of Teng and Perkins to put the game away. Both Green Archers scored seven points apiece in the third period, but the veteran swingman Pogoy kept FEU within striking distance and the quarter ended with La Salle still holding a 13 point edge, 62-49.
The Tamaraws still had one run left in them, beginning the final period with an 8-2 binge to bring them within seven points of La Salle, 64-57. However, Torres quickly answered back and sparked a 7-2 run to give DLSU a much-needed cushion. Torres nailed a corner three-pointer, handed out an assist to a trailing Joshua Torralba on a fast break, and made a lay-up in transition to bring the lead back up to 12, 71-59.
Tratter and Teng then scored back-to-back baskets to extend the lead to 16, 75-59, and the Green Archers then cruised to a 13 point win and their third straight FilOil finals appearance.
The FilOil final will be a winner-take-all contest to be played on Sunday, June 14, at 5pm in the San Juan Arena.
The Scores:
DLSU 84 – Teng 19, Torres 18, Tratter 12, Perkins 11, Caracut 9, Muyang 7, Torralba 4, Go 2, Sargent 2, Gob 0
FEU 71 – Pogoy 22, Jose 12, Tolomia 11, Escoto 5, Bienes 5, Trinidad 4, Orizu 3, Tamsi 3, Liwag 2, Arong 2, Comboy 2, Iñigo 0, Dennison 0
Quarterscores: 26-12, 42-29, 62-49, 84-71
