The De La Salle Green Archers got off to a good start in the second round, cruising to a morale-boosting 73-52 blowout victory over the UE Red Warriors today at the SM Mall of Asia Arena. The Archers took a quarter to get the measure of the Red Warriors, and grabbed the lead for good early in the second quarter en route to their first double digit victory this season. La Salle’s trio of Jeron Teng, Arnold Van Opstal and Norbert Torres sealed the deal for La Salle after finding their range.
Turnovers were aplenty from both squads throughout the game. Despite committing 23 turnovers, the Green Archers were able to pull away in the second quarter thanks to UE’s failed conversions. UE’s defense was tight on Norbert Torres in the entire game, swarming all over him whenever he got the ball in the paint and limiting him to 10 points. Rookie Jeron Teng again topscored for the team despite being tightly marked all game long, finishing with another double double with 16 points and 10 rebounds.
UE managed to limit the Archers’ offense in the first half, holding them to 31 points and surrendering just a 7 point lead at the break. However, the Green Archers’ offense picked up in the third quarter with Norbert Torres registering 10 points with 11 rebounds and 3 assists. Arnold Van Opstal contributed with ended the game with 12 points, completing the double digit scorers of La Salle.
La Salle took advantage of their height to outrebound the smaller Warriors by 26 boards (66 – 40). Offensive rebounds were a big part of the Green Archers’ offense as they were able to register 12 second chance points.
The defense-minded Archers again allowed UE to convert only 26.9% of their field goals.
La Salle’s free throw shooting has been plaguing the team since the start of the tournament and it has caused the Green Archers to lose a number of close games. Thankfully,La Salle managed to improve on their 56% free throw shooting against NU by converting 15 of their 23 free throws.
Warrior Gene Belleza tried to cut down the Green Archers’ lead after scoring 5 points with a layup and a quick three-point shot, but his efforts proved to be in vain as the Green Archers managed to keep a healthy 9 point lead by the end of the third quarter at 50 – 41.
After a string of misses from UE, La Salle uncorked another run to increase their lead to 16 after a trey by Team Captain Joshua Webb. UE mounted a mini-rally with two straight baskets, but it was Arnold Van Opstal who stopped UE’s run with a dunk that broke the Red Warrior’s momentum. After a string of baskets from Almond, Thomas and Norbert, the Green Archers closed out the game after establishing the biggest lead of the game at 73 – 52.
Notes: LA Revilla and Yutien Andrada were sidelined for this particular game after incurring similar ankle sprains while in practice. According to Coach Abanilla, the two will hopefully be available for their fixture against the Universityof Sto. Tomas on Wednesday. The team dedicated this game to the late Interior Secretary and DLSU Alumnus Jesse Robredo by putting his initials “JMR” in their jerseys.
Box Scores:
DLSU 73 – Teng 16, Van Opstal 12, N. Torres 10, Vosotros 8, Mendoza 8, Webb 7, T. Torres 4, Manguera 4, Reyes 2, Tallo 0, Dela Paz 0.
UE 52 – Sumang 17, Belleza 16, Javier 8, Flores 5, Alberto 2, Santos 2, Hernandez 2, Sumido 0, Villarias 0, Valdez 0, Galanza 0, Duran 0, Duncil 0.
Quarterscores: 15-16;31-24;50-51;73-52