UAAP: La Salle outlasts UE to clinch consecutive wins

For the DLSU Green Archers, every game in UAAP Season 78 presents a new challenge. If their previous four games tested their youth and their depth, today’s game showed their resilience, especially when facing pressure.

Despite holding a 17-point lead early in the fourth quarter, La Salle had to survive a late rally from a pesky UE squad before pulling off a 71-64 win earlier today at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum. With the victory, the Green Archers moved to 3-2 in the standings and are currently tied with the Ateneo Blue Eagles for third place.

Jeron Teng and Andrei Caracut combined for 32 points, with the latter registering a career-high 16 points on two three-pointers. Larry Muyang proved to be the anchor of DLSU’s defense, finishing with 11 rebounds and a game-high four blocks to complement his 11 points.

Nick Abanto led UE with 14 points, most of which came from the final run in the fourth quarter, along with eight rebounds. Ronnie De Leon added 12 points and four rebounds but the Red Warriors sorely missed the offensive firepower of Edison Batiller, who missed all of his shot attempts and managed to finish with only two points, all of which came from the free throw line.

The Green Archers struggled to put the ball into the basket in the opening minutes of the game, with UE scoring two baskets prior to Thomas Torres’ shot with eight minutes left in the first quarter. Teng, who had 11 points in the quarter, later tied the game at 4-all and from then on, he began to score through a variety of lay ups despite the tough defense UE put on him. The Red Warriors fought back and even took the lead, 16-15, with less than a minute left in the first quarter, relying on their press to force the Green Archers into committing turnovers. Teng once again took over and beat the buzzer to give La Salle a 17-16 lead at the end of the quarter.

UE ramped up their defense once again in the second quarter and started early on the offensive end to snatch the lead back from La Salle. Teng, Caracut, and Muyang kept DLSU at pace with the Red Warriors, who continued to capitalize on the Green Archers’ errors. In the end, it was Muyang and Caracut, who along with Teng, sparked an 11-2 run to close out the first half with DLSU on top, 32-26.

In the third quarter, the Green Archers continued to extend their lead, managing to raise it to double digits with six minutes left in the third quarter, 41-31. Muyang was instrumental in the run as his fastbreak lay up and succeeding block on the defensive end highlighted DLSU’s increased intensity on both ends of the floor. Momentum was clearly in DLSU’s favor as Josh Torralba made the game’s first three-pointer, bringing DLSU’s lead back to double digits, 46-35, with four minutes left the third quarter. La Salle then proceeded to give the Red Warriors a taste of their own medicine, pressuring UE to commit errors and scoring off their turnovers. When the third quarter ended, DLSU held a 51-41 lead over the Red Warriors.

La Salle tried to put UE away for good after Caracut knocked down two consecutive three-pointers, one of which resulted in a four-point play. Facing a 58-41 deficit, Abanto, making up for Batiller’s struggles, tried to lead one last UE rally, managing to cut the DLSU lead to single digits. Varilla then knocked down UE’s first three-pointer to cap off a 15-2 UE run that cut the DLSU lead to four, 60-56, with less than four minutes left in the game. Torres and Caracut responded by making crucial lay ups that gave the Green Archers more breathing room, 64-56. However, UE’s Palma responded with a three-point play with 3:20 left in the game, putting more pressure on DLSU to close the game. In the end, La Salle made enough free throws down the stretch to seal the game in their favor.

Teng, Caracut, and Muyang were the only Green Archers to finish in double figures but it took a team effort for DLSU to pull away from the Red Warriors. Thomas Torres struggled in the early stretches of the game but finished strong with his eight points, six rebounds, and two assists while managing to limit his turnovers to only two. Torralba added seven points and four rebounds, and was also responsible for keeping Batiller in check.

Battiller and Chris Javier combined for six points on 16 shots, a far cry from their usual combined average of 31.5 points per game. Abanto and De Leon picked up the slack for UE but the rest of the team made only 16 of their 63 field goals, good for 25.4 percent.

DLSU finally outrebounded their opponents in a win, grabbing 51 rebounds to UE’s 46, while also finishing with more blocks, 6-3. However, the Green Archers managed to commit at least 30 turnovers against UE for the third consecutive game, finishing with 30. Teng and Caracut were responsible for half of DLSU’s total errors, finishing with 15. Most of these turnovers were due to UE’s vaunted press, with the Red Warriors coming away with 12 steals against the lone DLSU steal from Julian Sargent.

Up next for the Green Archers are the UST Growling Tigers, whom they will face this Wednesday, September 30, at 4pm in the Mall of Asia Arena.

The Scores:

DLSU 71 – Teng 16, Caracut 16, Muyang 11, Torres 8, Torralba 7, Perkins 6, Sargent 5, 2, Rivero 0, Tratter 0

UE 64 – Abanto 14, De Leon 12, Charcos 8, Varilla 7, Palma 5, Penuela 5, Javier 4, Derige 3, Batiller 2, Gagate 2, Yu 2, Manalang 0, Sta. Ana 0

Quarterscores: 17-16, 32-26, 51-41, 71-64