Despite clawing back from a 30-point hole, the DLSU Green Archers could not halt the ADMU Blue Eagles’ unbeaten run, 81-74, in the UAAP Season 88 Men’s Basketball Tournament earlier tonight, October 5, at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
Team Captain Mike Phillips led the Green-and-White with a double-double of 17 points, 20 rebounds, and six dimes. The back duo of Jacob Cortez and Kean Baclaan added double-digit scoring for La Salle with 13 and 10 points, respectively.
The Katipunan-based squad leaned on their two one-and-done players Kymani Ladi and Dominic Escobar, with 15 points apiece to survive the fourth-quarter run by La Salle.
Abysmal start
The DLSU Green Archers opened the rivalry game flat, allowing ADMU Blue Eagles to build an early lead with easy baskets, but Phillips answered right back with a layup for himself, 7-2. The face pace game favored early for the Katipunan-based squad, who repeatedly found open looks underneath the baskets. Every time Mason Amos touched the ball, the Ateneo crowd erupted in loud jeers, serving as a reminder of his painful transfer from Loyola Heights. In the middle of it all was a fast-paced game that saw the Blue Eagles’ lead balloon to nine, 11-2, courtesy of Escobar’s layup and free throws, which forced an early timeout from La Salle with under seven minutes left.
La Salle adjusted their style and played half-court offense. Cortez sank two free throws to steady the ship, while Phillips drew the second foul of Divine Adili in the post, forcing Ateneo to play small-ball, 11-4. Playing their half-court, the Green-and-White clawed their way back, tying the game at 11-all with a Baclaan jumper. In the end, Escobar haunted Phillips’ defense and drilled a three-pointer before the first quarter buzzer ended, 14-11.
Lack of effort
Escobar continued to exploit Phillips’ offensive strides, successfully scoring straight to 18-11 to start the second quarter. Ateneo’s lead continued to surge into a double-digit, 24-14, as Green-and-White endured another cold start, but Amos and Luis Pablo drew fouls on Ateneo and went three out of four from the foul line, 24-17.
Despite the late flashes of resistance from La Salle, the Blue Eagles’ offense couldn’t be contained and kept on hitting timely shots to derail the momentum of La Salle, 36-19.
Continued woes
Hoping to turn things around after a lethargic first half, the Lasallians amped up their intensity on offense as Phillips converted a putback slam, 36-21. However, the Ateneans picked up their hot streak as Espina quickly answered with a layup. Jared Bahay then took advantage of La Salle’s woes, knocking down a triple from the top of the key. Ladi followed up with an explosive surge of eight-straight points, capping off a 10-0 run that extended the lead of the Katipunan rivals to 27, 48-21. Baclaan drained a triple to inject life into the Lasallians, but ADMU’s offensive onslaught was relentless, 56-29. The Green Archers attained most of their baskets from the charity stripe, while Ladi and Ian Espinosa capitalized on the Lasallians’ defensive lapses to stretch the margin to a whopping 33 and the score to 68-35. Dungo knocked a buzzer-beating three-pointer as La Salle headed into the final period with an overwhelming deficit of 30, 68-38.
Comeback within reach
As the Ateneans cooled down with an overwhelming advantage, La Salle remained undeterred. Daep converted on a spin hook to open the quarter, and Amos–eager to defeat his former side–ignited a 6-0 run that cut the lead to 22, 68-46. Momentum swung toward La Salle as Phillips, Baclaan, and Cortez took advantage of a cold ADMU offense, then capped off by a quick basket from EJ Gollena, further slashing the deficit to 12, 68-56.
Shawn Tuano came alive for the Blue Eagles, converting an and-one basket, looking to regain control, 71-56. Despite this, La Salle remained eager as the backcourt duo of Baclaan and Cortez collectively traded baskets with a surging Tuano, 75-64. Phillips then got fouled and converted on both free throws as they ramped a comeback with the Lasallian faithful energized. Cortez continued his output by driving to the basket and drawing a three-point play in the succeeding possession, 77-69. With a crucial opportunity, Cortez converted one out of his three attempts. La Salle returned to the line as they grabbed a crucial board with 40 seconds remaining on the clock. Gollena split his baskets from the line, and the Archers maintained their aggressiveness but to no avail, as the chance for a comeback became slimmer, 77-70.
With less than 30 seconds to go, La Salle deployed their tight defense to force Ateneo into a turnover. Phillips continued to hustle in the paint, reinjecting energy into the crowd with a slam, 77-72. Yet Ateneo, in the bonus, calmly sank all their free throws. Gollena scored a last-ditch effort with 12.6 left on the clock, but La Salle just fell short of a massive comeback as their undefeated rivals dribbled the clock out, 81-74.
After the game, DLSU Head Coach Topex Robinson praised ADMU’s preparation and lauded his team’s mindset, hoping to stay undeterred despite facing an uphill battle, “Just keep fighting… don’t look at the score and just make sure we do our basketball, and it gave us a chance to win.” Amos lamented that they played poorly against their archrivals, while taking responsibility, “We didn’t play how we usually play, and there’s no excuses for this game.” Despite the negative reception from Ateneo, the big-man brushed off the crowd’s boos and expressed accountability as he looked to move forward.
Falling to 2-2 in the standings, the Green Archers seek to return to their winning ways as they meet the NU Bulldogs next Sunday, at 2 pm, at the UST Quadricentennial Pavilion.
The Scores:
DLSU 74 – Phillips 17, Baclaan 13, Cortez 10, Gollena 7, Amos 6, Dungo 5, Pablo 5, Daep 4, Abadam 3, Marasigan 2, Gomez 2, Quines 0
ADMU 81 – Escobar 15, Ladi 15, Tuano 15, Lazaro 9, Espinosa 8, Espina 7, Bongo 4, Bahay 3, Adili 2, Lazo 2, Fjellvang 1
Quarter Scores: 11-14, 19-36, 38-68, 81-74
