The DLSU Green Archers handed the AdU Soaring Falcons their second loss of the season with a 79-78 victory earlier today, at the Mall of Asia Arena. At the end of the first round of eliminations, La Salle remains at fourth with a 4-3 win-loss record. Meanwhile, Adamson currently leads the standings alongside the FEU Tamaraws and ADMU Blue Eagles, all with five wins and two losses.
Aljun Melecio led the way for the Green Archers after garnering a total of 22 points, four rebounds, and two assists. Santi Santillan and Justine Baltazar also contributed to the team with 16 points each. The former also earned nine rebounds and three assists, as the latter added 10 rebounds and five blocks.
In the losing effort, Jerrick Ahanmisi was dominant on both ends of the court, recording 27 points and seven rebounds, while Sean Manganti also added 23 points with seven rebounds and four assists.
Head coach Louie Gonzalez shares that he focused on the mental aspect to prepare his team for this matchup. “Going up against a team that pressures 40 minutes, you have to be mentally tough,” says Gonzalez.
Back and forth first half
The Green Archers started strong in the first quarter, taking their time increasing their lead against the Soaring Falcons. Melecio, Baltazar, and Manuel each made a layup to increase La Salle’s lead to three at the 6:32 mark. Adamson’s Manganti, however, consecutively scored for his side of the team and brought the game to a tie, ending his streak with a dunk, having 3:40 remaining on the clock.
La Salle further increased their lead with a 2:30 minute run, with a three-pointer and a layup from Melecio, followed by a layup by Baltazar who also shot both free throws at the 1:10 mark. At the end of the first quarter, La Salle closed with a six point lead, 22-16.
At the beginning of the second quarter, Baltazar drew a foul from Kristian Bernardo but was only able to convert one of two free throws. At the 6:34 mark, the Lasallians further increased their lead to 10 after a jumper from Santillan. However, Ahanmisi was able to narrow La Salle’s lead and this sustained until the end of the first half. He assisted a fastbreak layup coming from Manganti and shot consecutive layups and three-pointers, shooting a total of 10 points in the second quarter. La Salle tried their hardest to increase the lead but failed to do so as they struggled to make a layup throughout the remaining seconds. In the end, the Soaring Falcons reduced the Green Archers’ lead to one, ending the first half with a score of 33-32.
It was an intensive first half for the Green Archers as they made only eight out of 14 free throws, compared to Adamson who made three out of six. DLSU also shot at 64 percent from the two-point field goal, while AdU shot at 47.
Grinded out effort
The second half was truly a grinded out effort for the Archers. They made big shots and big stops to halt each of the Falcons’ runs. The third quarter was a tight affair as both teams countered each other with runs. As a result, both teams ended the third quarter tied at 64 all.
The Archers started the fourth quarter slowly as they failed to make a shot in the first four minutes. They succumbed to a 7-0 run from the Falcons which gave Adamson their biggest lead of the game, 56-49. The Archers then countered with a 7-0 run of their own to tie the game again. Both teams traded baskets until Melecio made a floater with 14 seconds left to send the game into overtime.
The Green-and-White learned from their slow start in the fourth and started the overtime strong with a 9-0 run to give them a 73-64 advantage. Adamson provided a late scare for the Archers as they were able to cut the lead down to two points with 17 seconds left. Montalbo’s free throw shooting proved to be the nail in the coffin as the Lasallians held out a 78-77 win.
Melecio stepped up yet again for the Green-and-White as his final floater was the key to send the game into overtime. “We have our system and we just have to follow. Nagkakataon lang siguro na mas marami akong tinitira, pero ‘di naman ibig sabihin na ako na yung main man, so di ko iniisip yun, and for the ‘King Archer’ wala sakin yun,” Melecio responded when asked what he thought about if he saw himself as the new leader and King Archer of the team.
(We have our system and we just have to follow. It just happens by chance that I get to score a lot, but that doesn’t mean that I’m the main man, so I don’t think about it and for the ‘King Archer’, that’s nothing to me.)
On the other hand, Gonzalez happily affirmed that the win helped the team a lot. He explained the reasons why the win was significant to him and the team, “It’s because of the learning from the Ateneo game tapos nag-improve yung standings namin, we’re at the upper half of the season’s team standings tapos bumalik yung confidence ng mga players ko.”
The team from Taft will return to the same venue on Wednesday, October 17, at 2 pm to open the second round of eliminations in a matchup against the UE Red Warriors.
The scores:
DLSU 79 – Melecio 22, Baltazar 16, Santillan 16, Caracut 8, Montalbo 8, Serrano 5, Bates 2, Manuel 2, Dyke 0, Go 0
AdU 78 – Ahanmisi 27, Manganti 23, Sarr 9, Catapusan 5, Camacho 4, Lastimosa 3, Bernardo 2, Colonia 2, Espeleta 2, Magbuhos 1, Mojica 0, Pingoy 0
Quarter scores
22-16, 33-32, 49-49, 64-64, 79-78
