BEN Mbala and rookie Ricci Rivero came up with huge efforts that carried the La Salle Green Archers to a 75-66 stopping of the National University Bulldogs Sunday in the 79th University Athletic Association of the Philippines men’s basketball tournament at the Araneta Coliseum.
Mbala was in foul trouble in the fourth quarter, but he protected the shaded lane and did not let anyone score from inside the paint for almost three minutes in the final phase of the fourth quarter.
The 6’7” Cameroonian’s monster game yielded 16 points and 15 rebounds, propelling the Green Archers to their fourth straight victory.
“We expected this kind of game from them. We met them before in the off-season. We know that this was going down the wire,” said La Salle coach Aldin Ayo.
Ricci, the younger brother of Prince Rivero, had only six points. But his baskets and brief presence on the floor proved to be timely, as the Green Archers stayed close with NU with his penetrations in the third period. He then moved the Taft-based Archers out of range with his lone basket in the fourth.
The Bulldogs, led by Matt Salem and J-Jay Alejandro with 15 and 14 points, respectively, focused their time and energy in trying to stop the prolific Jeron Teng, who still shot 23 points for La Salle.
The Bulldogs lost an eight-point lead in the last two minutes of the third as Ayo let Teng’s teammates do the other things for the team.
The Green Archers began pulling away, sparked by split charities from Mbala and Andrei Caracut, and then on a couple of driving layups from Ricci Rivero in the last 28 seconds.
With the bullstrong Cameroonian patrolling the inside, La Salle went on to move away as Rivero capped La Salle’s final run with a his driving layup off Teng’s assist, 68-61, with two minutes to go.
“The fourth quarter did us in. I thought we lost our discipline. We could not stop Jeron Teng,” said Bulldogs coach Eric Altamirano after NU suffered its first loss in three matches, and dropped to a share of second with the Adamson Falcons.
Games Wednesday
(Mall of Asia Arena)
2 p.m. UE vs UP
4 p.m. Adamson vs NU