ATENEO Blue Eagles’ coach Sandy Arespacochaga said they had La Salle on its heels with their big lead in Game 2 of their UAAP Men’s Basketball best-of-three showdown at the Araneta Coliseum on Wednesday.
But because La Salle is such a strong team, the Archers bounced back and were unable to keep them at bay when they began making their counterattacks.
“And we weren’t able to stop the run. The run started at the end of the second quarter, and it carried over to the third,” explained Arespacochaga.
The Blue Eagles squandered a 21-point lead and bowed to the defending champion La Salle Green Archers, 92-83, in Game 2 of their best-of-three finals series at the Araneta Coliseum.
Arespacochaga said they were not able to play well defensively.
At this point, the Green Archers were doing a great job in containing the Blue Eagles during their transition plays.
The Green Archers focused their defense on Matt Nieto, who had 10 points, and was held scoreless in the second period.
Because of the adjustments that La Salle did in Game 2, Arespacochaga said it’s back to the drawing board for the Eagles to figure out how they will be able to make necessary adjustments during their winner-take-all game on Sunday.
The way the Achers recovered from a huge deficit looked eerily familiar to the Eagles’ eyes. That’s because 30 years ago, it was Ateneo which rose from such a huge deficit to win a game in the finals.
In 1987, the Blue Eagles rallied back from a 20-point deficit in the fourth quarter to win their first-ever title in the league with a 94-92 triumph over the University of the East Warriors.
At that time, free throw shots from Emilio Chuatico and Eric Reyes Jr. sealed the deal for the Blue Eagles.
Joseph “Jet” Nieto , the father of the twins Matthew and Mike, led a decisive run and sparked it with a triple in the beginning of the last period.
And it was baskets from Gilbert Reyes and Nieto that brought the Blue Eagles closer, 92-86.
Last Wednesday, with scoring ace Ricci Rivero shackled by four fouls in the first half, Andrei Caracut joined Aljun Melecio in helping the Green Archers turn the tables on the Blue Eagles.
Caracut, a third-year veteran of the squad, banged in 13 points, including seven crucial points that provided fuel for La Salle’s successful effort to tie their best-of-three title series at 1-all.
He and Rivero scored big in a crucial run in the third period, knocking in a three-pointer and three-point play that put La Salle within reach, 54-56,with 4:03 left.
The Green Archers and the Blue Eagles meet again a deciding Game 3 encounter this Sunday.