The De La Salle Green Archers outplayed a tenacious UPHSD Altas squad today, 75-67 at the FilOil Flying V Arena in San Juan City. The Green Archers, who lost their last game against UE in a highly contested duel, gained a measure of revenge after losing to the same team recently in the Father Martin’s Cup.
Norbert Torres continued his strong showing this pre-season as he scored a game high 20 points along with 8 rebounds and a block. The rookie duo of Jeron Teng and Mark Tallo followed next with 16 and 12 points apiece. The Altas were led by Anthony Paulino and Jett Vidal who combined for 23 points, and Nigerian center Femi Babayemi who poured in 10 points.
UPHSD’s Babayemi opened the scoring with a quick lay-up just after the tip-off, which was answered by Norbert Torres. It took a while for the Green Archers to get going, with the defense allowing the Altas to score a number of uncontested jump shots to take the lead at 6 – 12. Archer center Norbert Torres scored a couple of baskets to tie the game at 12 – 12. PG Mark Tallo then teamed up with Luigi Dela Paz to tow the Green Archers to a 22-17 lead at the end of the first quarter. UPHSD rallied to take the lead at 35 – 31, and Gabby Reyes’ three point shot late in the half was not enough as the UPHSD Altas led the Green Archers 36 – 41 at the half.
The defense of the Green Archers finally stiffened in the 3rd quarter while the offense got going. Vosotros and Webb connected on successive 3 point shots, and Tallo scored on a pair of free throws as the Green Archers finally retook the lead at 46 – 45. A strong defensive stand enabled the Green Archers to pull away at 54 – 49 as UPHSD got into foul trouble, with the quarter ending at 58 – 55 for the Green Archers.
Rookies Mark Tallo and Jeron Teng got going in the 4th quarter, scoring and drawing fouls that caused UPHSD to get into the penalty situation early. With their offense and defense finally clicking, the Green Archers took their biggest lead at 11 points, 71 – 60 thanks to clutch lay ups by Gabby Reyes and Norbert Torres. The shot blocking of Norbert Torres and Yutien Andrada’s forced the Altas to avoid the painted areas. Vosotros showed great sportsmanship after refusing to score an open lay up as he saw a Perpetual player down on the ground. The game eventually ended at 75 – 67 in favor of the Green Archers.
“I think our big guys played well today defensively”, said Coach Gee Abanilla. “We were too relaxed in the first half and allowed them to score 41 points. We were also committing too many turnovers and I addressed those concerns to my players at half time. We toughened up on defense in the second half and it showed as they were only able to score 26 points”, he added. Coach Gee insisted that they are still working on team chemistry and that they still have not achieved the form that they want.
The Green Archers, who still have a chance to earn a spot in the quarter finals, will face off against the already eliminated Mapua Institute of Technology Cardinals on May 28. La Salle will also close the elimination round with a much-awaited game against Ateneo on June 2.
Box Scores:
DLSU 75 – Torres N. 20, Teng 16, Tallo 12, Vosotros 6, Andrada 5, Reyes G. 5, Webb 3, Revilla 2, Mendoza 2, Dela Paz 2, Gotladera 2, Torres T. 0, Reyes M. 0.
UPHSD 67 – Paulino 12, Vidal 11, Babayemi 10, Allano 10, Arboleda 9, Thompson 8, Elorpe 5, Baloria 2, Jolangcob 0.
Quarter Scores: 22–17;36–41;58–55;75-67