DLSU experienced another blowout today. But unlike their previous two games, it’s their turn to be on the winning end. Capitalizing on their quickness and pressure defense, the Green Archers proved that their arrows were sharper than those of the Chiefs of Arellano University.
With their 89-60 victory La Salle has already one foot in the quarterfinals in the Fil-Oil Flying V Preseason tournament. They await the outcome of the San Beda-Perpetual game tomorrow. Barring any upsets, the Red Lions should win here thus giving the Archers a ticket to the quarters. An Altas’ win will tie them with the Archers but it will be them who will advance to the next round by virtue of the win-over-the-other tiebreaker.
The Green Archers’ execution of the full-court press was excellent today, forcing a lot of turnovers thus resulting to numerous fast break plays. The Chiefs simply crumbled after starting the game strong while our boys played loose today just like their game against EAC.
After letting Arellano take a 1-8 lead, the Archers turned on the heat with the familiar full-court press forcing turnovers to regain the lead at 10-8, which they never relinquished. The nightmare press was effective all game long, forcing consecutive turnovers for easy points that allowed the lead to balloon to 22 at the half.
Unlike in previous games, the Archers finally started hitting from the long court, with Atkins hitting 3 treys on quick catch-and-shoot plays. The Archers also dominated the paint, with Mendoza, Ferdinand, and Andrada scoring in the shaded lane and together with Paredes blocking or altering the shots of the Chiefs. The wide-open game allowed Tampus to showcase his penetration skills, picking the pockets of the Chiefs’ guards before driving to score on contested layups.
Despite the win, there remain a lot of holes to plug in the Archers’ game. The press worked well against the inept guard corps of Arellano, after failing to dent the fluid game of San Beda in the previous game. The unfamiliarity of the players with each other again resulted in botched passes and lots of turnovers on the break, errors which will prove fatal against the stronger teams.
Still, the game showed that the spirit of the Archers remains strong, and their energy and enthusiasm in carving out the lopsided win was rewarded with a feel-good victory after consecutive losses. Their development continues to be on the right track, but it remains to be seen if their improvement will be enough to allow them to be competitive in the UAAP. For now, they wait for the results of the San Beda-Perpetual game to see if they will play at least one more game in the Filoil tournament.
Small steps. Hopefully they will soon be big strides towards the return of the Archer game we knew so well in past years.
Box Scores:
DLSU 89 – Tampus 15, Atkins 15, Mendoza 10, Tolentino 9, Webb 8, Dela Paz 8, Ferdinand 7, Andrada 5, Vosotros 4, Elorde 3, Reyes 3, Villanueva 2, Marata 0, Paredes 0, Herrrera 0
AU 60 – Celada 12, Palma 10, Acidre 9, Ciriacruz 8, Zulueta 7, Del Rosario 4, Lapuz 3, Virtudazo 3, Anquilo 2, Avellana 2, Salcedo 0, Advincula 0.
Quarter Scores 21-15;45-27;72-42;89-60