Despite establishing a double digit lead during the last quarter, the De La Salle University Green Archers once again suffered a last-minute meltdown to eventually succumb to their second consecutive loss in the hands of the University of the East Red Warriors today at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
Sharpshooter Almond Vosotros scored a career high 26 points, 12 of which came from outside the arc, to lead all scorers. Teng, meanwhile, added in 13 points along with 4 boards and 5 dishes to complete La Salle’s double digit scorers list. Captain Norbert Torres and Thomas Torres needed just a point to barge in to the said list with 9 points apiece.
Roi Sumang once again saved the Recto-based squad from seemingly inevitable doom with 21 points, 6 assists, and 7 rebounds. Charles Mammie registered a double double by grabbing 16 boards coupled with 19 points while Chris Javier contributed 16 points with a 50% shooting percentage from the paint.
Despite being outrebounded by the Red Warriors, 38 – 47, La Salle managed to register 24 turnover points compared to UE’s 13. Moreover, La Salle had 12 second chance points while UE had 15. In addition, the Green Archers managed to edge UE in terms of shooting with a 46.8% percentage when compared to UE’s 40.8%.
Unfortunately, La Salle continued to shoot poorly from the charity stripe converting only 27.3% of their attempts when compared to UE’s almost perfect percentage at 87.5%
Even though Charles Mammie was all over him, Norbert Torres was able to drain a layup just below the post to jumpstart La Salle’s offense. After a number of quick exchanges from both squads, Vosotros drained two straight jumpers before Thomas Torres added another one to put La Salle on top at 15 – 14. However, UE’s Mammies was consistent in terrorizing La Salle, constantly giving Norbert Torres trouble in both defense and offense with his reach and strength advantage.
Mammie continued his intimidating performance in the next canto but baskets from Perkins and Teng allowed La Salle to maintain a safe distance against the Red Warriors. Teng added in another 3 points after a layup and an and-one conversion to put La Salle up at 25 – 24 with 6:35 left in the quarter. Dan Alberto and Chris Javier then answered back with two straight trifectas for the Red Warriors before Thomas Torres drained a trey of his own to keep the score leveled at 30-all. La Salle then fired a barrage of shots from beyond the arc thanks to contributions from Vosotros and rookie Matt Salem to finish the first half with a 4 point lead at 43 – 39.
After being sat down during the majority of the first half due to foul trouble, Arnold Van Opstal was finally brought into the third to pair with Norbert Torres in the hopes of containing Charles Mammie. Luigi De La Paz had the chance to add three points for the Green Archers but spilled all three of his free throw attempts. However, De La Paz made up for his misses with a long jumper before Vosotros added another 5 points to put La Salle ahead up by 7 points at 56 – 49. After draining a layup in front of Charles Mammie, Van Opstal added another two with a putback from a miss by Norbert Torres. Vosotros then registered his 20th point with an alley-oop from Thomas Torres that left the entire Red Warrior platoon stunned. Sumang, however, answered with a trifecta from way out to finish the third quarter with a 6 point deficit at 64 – 58.
By the start of the fourth, De La Paz and Van Opstal placed La Salle up by 10 points at 68 – 58. At this point, the Green Archers were seemingly playing perfect basketball, registering baskets with ease and completely stopping UE’s offensive tempo. UE started to slowly come back into the game with Roi Sumang equalizing for the Red Warriors resulting into the 12th deadlock of the game. A jam by Arnold Van Opstal placed La Salle up once again at 78 – 75, forcing the Red Warriors to call time. Olivarez brought the Red Warriors back on top with a trifecta at 82 – 81 with only 42.3 seconds left.
For the second consecutive game, the Green Archers gave away a double-digit lead, jeopardizing the outcome of a seemingly already finished match. Dan Alberto converted both of his trips to the stripe before De La Paz converted another long jumper, which was contested as a three–point shot, to cut UE’s lead down to 1. But his efforts were not enough as UE eventually came out with the win, climbing from a 10 point deficit in the fourth to deal the Green Archers its second consecutive loss.
With the defeat, the Green Archers go down the standings with a 2 – 3 record. La Salle will attempt to find redemption on July 24 against the Adamson Soaring Falcons at the Araneta Colliseum.
Box Scores:
DLSU – Vosotros 26, Teng 13, Torres N. 9, Torres T. 9, Van Opstal 8, De La Paz 8, Salem 6, Perkins 4, Tampus 0, Revilla 0, Montalbo 0.
UE – Sumang 21, Mammie 19, Javier 16, Alberto 9, Olivares 8, Noble 8, Santos 4, Sumido 0, Jumao-as 0, Hernandez 0, Galanza 0, Flores 0, Casajeros 0.
Quarter Scores:
18 – 18 ; 43 – 39 ; 64 – 58 ; 85 – 83