After a momentous win in their last game versus the ADMU Blue Eagles, the DLSU Green Archers suffered their second loss of the season in heartbreaking fashion against the UE Red Warriors, 72-81, earlier tonight, October 12, at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
In the brave effort, Schonny Winston poured in 26 points to go along with nine rebounds. Meanwhile, swingman Kevin Quiambao had an all-around performance with 15 points, six rebounds, and three assists. In Evan Nelle’s absence, Penny Estacio took over the playmaking duties, contributing seven points and seven dimes.
Kyle Paranada led the scoreboard for the UE Red Warriors with 20 points and six assists, followed by his brother, Nick Paranada, who scored 18 points and Luis Villegas with 16 points and 10 rebounds.
Nip and tuck opening
The Green Archers started off the match with shaky execution, struggling to score until Winston sparked his team’s offense with back-to-back scores. M. Phillips then followed up with a basket of his own to gain an 8-3 lead at the 5:14 mark for DLSU. The team from Taft struggled to pull away early versus the gutsy UE Red Warriors, allowing several easy baskets inside. Attempting to regain momentum, rookie standout Quiambao converted a jumper which extended their advantage, 16-11. Despite having flashes of offensive execution, the Taft-based squad was unable to maintain their rhythm as they struggled to score—suffering from many turnovers and misplaced passes. The Red Warriors used this opportunity to close the gap, capped off by a K. Paranada three, his third one in the quarter, 16-14. This was followed by his brother, M. Paranada, who made a pair of free throws to end the first quarter at 16-all.
The Green and White opened the second quarter with high hopes of recovering from their sloppy performance during the opening frame. This was immediately shut down by K. Paranada, who scored consecutive points before Justine Guevarra extended the Red Warriors’ lead to nine, 25-16, at the 7:27 mark. The Green Archers regained their tempo and offensive momentum, capitalizing on UE’s consecutive fouls. Both Winston and Austria got both of their free throws in, which was echoed by a crucial floater by Quiambao—finally regaining the lead, 29-27. After a fair exchange of neck-in-neck baskets from both teams, it was Quiambao who drained a crucial shot in the paint, ending the second quarter with a two-point advantage for DLSU, 36-34.
Unpleasant surprise
With hopes of pulling away from a tight contest, Winston opened the second half with a scoring barrage of his own to widen the gap, 43-36. Fortunately, Ben Phillips was ready to back Winston up in the scoring column—as he made a shot from beyond the arc that sent the La Salle crowd to a frenzy on the sidelines. After seeing La Salle ride a comfortable lead, UE’s Abdul Sawat and K. Paranada’s back-to-back two’s triggered DLSU head coach Pumaren to call a timeout to rally his men to hopefully ice the Red Warriors. The intensity kept rising within the arena as both teams committed a series of dramatic exchanges, including a three-point shootout between DLSU’s Estacio and UE’s Sawat. Josiah Alcantara of the Red Warriors closed the third quarter with a three-point play to keep their team within close range, 56-51, with the Green Archers still in the lead.
To open the fourth quarter, UE’s Villegas made early back-to-back threes to cut the deficit to one, 58-57. The young gun from Taft, Earl Abadam, then answered the Red Warriors with four points via a jumper and a floater to extend La Salle’s lead, 62-57. Still fiery from the first half, the hot-shooting K. Paranada buried two consecutive buckets from three-point line and an easy floater to tie the game, 67-67—forcing La Salle to call an emergency timeout with just more than four minutes left in the game. The two teams kept each other within close distance until K. Paranada pulled up yet again for a jumper to steal the lead, 74-72, keeping the crowd on the edge of their seats. Still unstoppable in the final quarter, the UE guard showed off a wild and1 reverse layup and secured the free throw to claim a comfortable lead for the Recto-based squad, 81-72, much to the delight of the Red Warriors fans. Still with 4.8 seconds left in the game, the Green Archers clearly conceded to UE. Winston made the last seconds count with an open jumper to conclude the game with a tough loss, 81-74.
The defeat brings the Green Archers’ win-loss record to an even 2-2 standing. The team will look to bounce back against the FEU Tamaraws on Saturday, October 15, at 2 pm at the same venue.
The Scores:
DLSU 74 – Winston 26, Quiambao 15, Estacio 7, Austria 6, Cortez 6, B. Phillips 5, Abadam 4, M. Phillips 3, Nwankwo 2, Manuel 0, Macalalag 0
UE 81 – K. Paranada 20, N. Paranada 18, Villegas 16, Stevens 8, Payawal 7, Sawat 5, Alcantara 3, Guevarra 2, Abatayo 2, Beltran 0, Antiporda 0,
Quarter Scores: 16-16, 34-36, 51-56, 81-74
