The DLSU Green Archers notched another win in their tally as they took down the Mapúa Cardinals, 84-82, in their nail-biting Pinoyliga Next Man Cup meeting earlier today, March 23, at the Enderun Colleges.
Kean Baclaan earned the Player of the Game award after powering the Taft-based squad with 17 points, seven rebounds, and five assists. Luis Pablo led the scoreboard with 18 points, while Andrei Dungo contributed 17 markers of his own.
On the opposing side, Marcus Nitura proved to be a problem for the winning side after putting up 27 points and 13 rebounds, while Clint Escamis added 18 points and four steals.
Error terror
The DLSU Green Archers struggled with turnovers and mistakes in the first half, forcing them to play catch-up against the Mapúa Cardinals throughout two quarters. With expectations high for a tight battle between the two titan teams, the first points came within the eight-minute frame when two-time Pinoyliga Cup MVP Escamis showcased his prowess with an uncontested layup, setting the tone for the Cardinals’ approach in the match, 2-0.
While Mapúa steadily built momentum and solidified their defense, La Salle was all over the place, committing error after error and rushing their plays. The Cardinals’ claws proved too hard to escape for the Green Archers, leaving them no choice but to rely on free throws to catch up from a six-point deficit, 10-4. The Green-and-White continued to find it difficult to break through, scoring only from the charity stripe and marking a low-scoring output. The team’s second field goal only came with one minute left in the first quarter, when Dungo nailed a trey to cut the lead, 23-13.
Entering the second quarter down by double digits, the Taft-based squad was eager to improve their performance. In the early minutes of the period, the Green Archers went on a 5-0 run fueled by free throws from Jacob Cortez and a recovered Baclaan, along with a layup from a heating-up Vhoris Marasigan that trimmed their deficit to eight, 26-18. Though La Salle notably had more field goals in the second quarter, it was still not enough to match the explosive offense that Mapúa had already settled into. Marasigan continued to step up for DLSU, sinking back-to-back layups that sparked a scoring surge, 39-27.
Still down by a significant margin, a fresh Ethan Alian converted a three-point play, registering a layup and earning a free throw to cut the lead to nine, 39-30. Slowly seeing their team recover from their offensive struggles, Dungo mustered up offensive plays for the Green-and-White, finishing a layup to cap off their 7-0 run, 39-32. However, the Cardinals quickly responded and shut down the Green Archers’ attempts to stay close, ending the first half with another commanding lead, 45-33.
Back-and-forth
With a double-digit deficit to erase against a formidable opponent, the Green Archers adjusted their game plan to begin the second half. The Lasallians shifted to a man-to-man defensive scheme from their two-three zone defense in the first half. The change proved to be fruitful as La Salle stopped Mapúa from scoring in the first three minutes of the third quarter, while the Green-and-White went on a 5-0 run to cut the lead to seven, 45-38. However, Marcus Nitura and Ivan Lazarte found gaps in the La Salle defense and restored Mapúa’s double-digit advantage, 56-43.
Despite their struggles, the DLSU guards showed their quick hands on the defensive end and turned it into offensive breaks as Baclaan, Cortez, and Rubico cut the lead, forcing the Cardinals to call a timeout with 2:35 left, 56-50. DLSU were unable to sustain their momentum as Lazarte and Nitura once again got to work with their hot shooting in the game to give Mapua an 11-point game to end the third quarter, 64-53.
Early in the fourth, La Salle was unable to cut the deficit as they were cold from the perimeter and spilled turnovers that gave the Cardinals easy baskets in the first four minutes, 71-60. With time running out, the Green Archers shifted to a full-court press, giving them easier looks on the offensive end to finally cut the lead to four as Mapúa called for a timeout, 71-67. The Cardinals turned up their defensive effort again after the timeout to get fastbreak layups. Both squads struggled to score baskets in the final minutes of the game as emotions ran high and defensive efforts intensified. With 38.4 seconds left, Pablo was fouled but missed his second free throw, 73-71. However, he grabbed his own miss and found Baclaan who hit a game-tying floater to send the game to overtime, 73-all.
Baclaan’s late heroics
The Green Archers faltered early in overtime as their three-pointers were not falling, while Nitura continued showing off his offensive prowess, 78-73. With three minutes left, Baclaan split his free throws but did not let the miss throw him off. At the next possession, Baclaan hit a clutch three-pointer to cut the lead to one, 78-77.
With the Mapúa’s attention now on Baclaan, their defense surrounded him as he drove to the basket as the Lasallian guard kicked it out to a wide-open Dungo for a three-pointer to take the game, 80-78. Escamis immediately answered back to tie the game with a minute left, 80-all. Late free throws by Pablo and another resilient effort from Nitura tied the game with 30.7 seconds on the clock, 82-all. As time ran out, the Lasallians threw a shot at the basket and missed, but Pablo was ready underneath the basket to put it back for a second chance bucket to win the game, 84-82.
Following this win, the Green Archers improved to a flawless 3-0 record. The Green-and-White will be looking to continue their perfect Pinoyliga season so far when they take on the San Sebastian Golden Stags on Saturday, March 29, at 2 pm at the same venue.
The Scores:
DLSU 84 – Pablo 18, Baclaan 17, Dungo 17, Amos 8, Cortez 8, Marasigan 6, Alian 6, Rubico 2, Sarmiento 2, Nwanko 0, Konov 0,
Mapúa 82 – Nitura 27, Escamis 18, Lazarte 17, Abdulla 9, Igliane 4, Concepcion 4, Sapasap 3, Valentin 0, Edward 0, Gulapa 0
Quarter Scores: 13-24, 33-45, 53-64, 73-73, 84-82
