The DLSU Green Archers escaped the gritty FEU Tamaraws and came back from a shaky game, 58-53, extending their winning streak in the UAAP Season 87 Men’s Basketball Tournament earlier tonight, November 6, at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
Mike Phillips anchored the defense, towing the Green Archers to victory with a monster stat line of 17 points, 15 rebounds, five steals, two assists, and two blocks, shooting an impressive 61.5 percent from the field. Jcee Macalalag and Andrei Dungo contributed nine and eight points, respectively, fueling the fourth-quarter comeback.
Mo Konateh led FEU with 14 points and a staggering 27 rebounds in its loss. While rookie Veejay Pre had another outstanding performance with 12 points and five rebounds, it wasn’t enough for the Green-and-Gold to secure the win.
Arrows missing
The DLSU Green Archers, looking cold and hesitant, stumbled out of the gate and were unable to find a rhythm for nearly half of the first quarter. Their offense sputtered as they struggled to make plays, leaving them chasing the dominating FEU Tamaraws, who seized an early six-point lead, 14-8.
In an attempt to slow down the Tamaraws’ offensive surge, the Green Archers cranked up their defense. However, fouls piled up with 1:10 remaining on the clock, catching the team in a tight grip and unable to break free. But just as the quarter neared its end, M. Phillips stepped up, igniting a spark with his determined performance in the final minute as he grabbed key rebounds and made a steal that hinted at a possible turnaround to end the quarter, 19-10.
With the Tamaraws holding a comfortable lead, they looked to maintain control of the second quarter. For the first two minutes, La Salle struggled to score until Henry Agunanne finally broke the scoring drought with a quick two-pointer. However, FEU’s Pasaol swiftly answered with a three, pushing the score to the Tamaraws’ favor, 24-12.
Desperate to light a fire, the Green Archers pushed the tempo of their offense, but they fanned the flames with their own mistakes. A series of turnovers allowed FEU to build their lead further, as La Salle could only manage points from the charity stripe. The Green Archers called a timeout with three minutes remaining, hoping for a spark to ignite their offense, 26-18.
Slowly but surely, the Green Archers found their rhythm. Led by Dungo and Macalalag, they began to close the gap, not only on offense but also defensively, shutting down the Tamaraws’ attack. The momentum shifted as La Salle ended the quarter with a 28-26 lead—their first lead of the game.
Defensive masterclass
Coming off the end of the first half with momentum, the Green Archers continued their defensive intensity and improved shot selection in the third quarter. M. Phillips opened the second half with an emphatic slam off a Dungo pass that fired up both the team and the Lasallian crowd, 30-26. The Green-and-White continued to show their defensive tenacity—forcing the Green-and-Gold to miss shot after shot—and controlled the pace of the game. Despite a good latter-half opener, Coach Topex Robinson called an early timeout which Kevin Quiambao quickly responded to with a turnaround jumper, followed by Macalalag with a layup off a forced turnover to build a double-digit lead, 36-26.
Despite the team’s defense forcing a stop, La Salle struggled to score baskets which kept them afloat. With the continued scoring drought, FEU relied on their guards to spark a run to cut the lead of La Salle off attacking the interior defense and scoring layups, 37-34. Marasigan tried to stop the scoring run of the Tamaraws with a jumper, giving DLSU a five-point cushion, 39-34. The momentum swung back to the team from Morayta as they ended the quarter on a strong run with Pre scoring a layup with few seconds left in the quarter, 41-40.
The Green Archers looked shocked by the huge run of the Tamaraws to start the final quarter. FEU controlled the pace to start with the two rookies, Pre and Pasaol, scoring back-to-back baskets to extend their lead, 45-43. With under six minutes left, Coach Robinson took out Quiambao and inserted Raven Gonzales to dictate the game in hopes of lessening the ball possession and pressuring defense in the backcourt.
The adjustment paid off as M. Phillips’ hustle plays slowly cut down the lead of FEU, 48-47. A series of forced turnovers prevented the Tamaraws from crossing the ball in their half-court. But in the next possessions, Pasaol and Royce Alforque escaped the defense to put a stop to the run of La Salle, 51-48. The momentum has once again turned in the favor of DLSU as M. Phillips and Gonzales scored timely baskets with a putback dunk and floater in the lane to take the lead back from FEU with 52.6 left, 52-51.
The defending champions showed their composure down the stretch with M. Phillips scored a crucial basket over Konateh, but missed the bonus free throws to give them a comfortable lead, 56-51. Off the made free throws of Konateh, La Salle executed a perfect out-of-bounce play as Dungo broke free from the press defense of FEU and scored a layup to ice the game for La Salle, 58-53.
Coach Robinson shared his thoughts on how the Green Archers climbed back in the big deficient in the fourth quarter, “We try to make it a boring game by not outrunning them because it’s going to be a disaster for us if we did. We just stepped up in those last few minutes of the fourth quarter. We did what we’re supposed to do and that’s to limit their scorers.”
Player of the game M. Phillips exclaimed, ”That was one of the most fun games I’ve had.” He also praised the young FEU Tamaraws after the grind-out win, “This is what the UAAP is all about, going teams against FEU. The standings [and] the record, didn’t depict what FEU is. They are young guys but they are really doing so well.”
The DLSU Green Archers will return to action this Sunday, November 10, for a rematch against the UP Fighting Maroons, the UAAP Season 84 champion, for a rematch in the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Scores:
DLSU 58 – M. Phillips 17, Macalalag 9, Dungo 8, Quiambao 8, Marasigan 4, Gonzales 3, Austria 2, Ramiro 2, Agunanne 2, Gollena 0, Konov 0
FEU 53 – Konateh 14, Pre 12, Alforque 11, Pasaol 11, Annouevo 3, Daa2, Bagunu 0, Bautista 0, Montemayor 0, Nakai 0, Ona 0
Quarter Scores: 10-19, 28-26, 40-41, 58-53
