Earlier today at the FilOil Flying V Centre, the DLSU Green Archers fell to the UP Fighting Maroons, 92-85. With the loss, the Taft-based squad holds a 1-1 win-loss standing, while the Diliman-based squad sports a 2-1 record.
The UP Fighting Maroons were led by the duo of former Green Archer Ricci Rivero and Javi Gomez De Liaño who combined for 53 points and 14 rebounds. Jun Manzo added to his team’s victory as he tallied 18 points, nine rebounds, and seven assist.
In the losing effort, Justine Baltazar and Ralph Cu spearheaded the Green-and-White. The former posted 22 points and 13 rebounds, while the latter contributed 15 points, all of which came from behind the arc as Cu made five three-pointers. Aljun Melecio, Jordan Bartlett, and Kurt Lojera chipped in for the team as well, making 13, 12, and 10 points, respectively.
Despite the loss, Cu saw this matchup as his breakout game with the Green Archers. He gave credit to his teammates for the solid outing, saying, “Our guards put a lot of pressure on the defense—that’s why I was left open. They just made the right basketball play of finding the open man.”
Back and forth first half
UP capitalized on DLSU’s poor start with a quick 5-0 run to open the game. The Green-and-White were quick to answer with a 5-0 run of their own, with Melecio and Baltazar connecting on a pick and roll play to tie the score at five-all. After both teams’ quick runs, they then started to exchange baskets with DLSU rookie, Jordan Bartlett, ending the quarter with a layup off of a spin move. The first quarter ended in favor of the Maroons at 20-17.
The second frame started with both teams coming out on fire from behind the arc, as four of the first five field goals scored were three-pointers. Andrei Caracut contributed to two of the four field goals, with the score at 26-25 in favor of UP. Afterwards, both teams yet again exchanged runs with La Salle going on a 7-0 run, which ended with a Cu three-pointer. Afterwards, Rivero’s three-pointer sparked a 7-0 run for the Maroons.
Afterward, Cu made his third three-pointer of the quarter off of a pick and pop play with Melecio. Melecio then ended the half with a mid-range jumper to give the Green Archers the lead heading into halftime, 40-38.
Problems at the foul line
The Taft-based squad started the second half with a faster pace as Lojera scored six fastbreak layups in the quarter off of leakouts. La Salle gained the advantage with this faster pace as they were able to attain their biggest lead of the game with 14 points after Cu drained another three. The score was 60-46 in favor of DLSU at the 1:41 mark of the third period. UP though ended the quarter strong with Jerson Prado scoring to open layups to end the quarter. Despite UP’s efforts, DLSU still had the advantage at 62-53.
UP opened the fourth quarter with a sense of urgency as they had two baskets plus foul shots courtesy of Jun Manzo and Ja. De Liaño. It was Baltazar who carried the Green Archers in the fourth frame as he poured in eight of the 12 points La Salle scored in the fourth.
Throughout the game, UP consistently nailed their foul shots, while DLSU on the other hand failed to convert. The Taft-based squad missed a total of 13 free throws while the Diliman-based squad only missed two. More so, it was Rivero who nailed two clutch free throws at the end of the fourth to force the game to head into overtime, the score was 74-all at the end of the fourth quarter.
Defensive lapses costing the game
As soon as overtime begun, it was clear that Rivero was on a mission. Rivero tallied 10 of his 28 points during the extra frame with La Salle failing to find an answer for him. Bartlett provided a valiant effort as he scored six points but then missed three of his six free throws which proved to be crucial in the endgame. The game concluded with UP coming out on top, 92-85.
Head coach Gian Nazario shared the blame for the loss and was unsatisfied with the errors they committed in the late game. “Somehow, it’s on us, we experimented on the rotation. We’re just on our third month together, we just have to be more comfortable playing a lot of guys. Just like what I said, it was just an experiment for us but I thought UP adjusted well, they played well too. Javi had 25, that’s a lot for him, and of course our free throws. They only missed two, we missed 13. That’s a lot, that’s the game right there.”
The DLSU Green Archers will look to get back on the winning column as they go against the Mapua University Cardinals on Tuesday, May 14, at 5 pm at the same venue.
