The De La Salle Green Archers struggled to find their best form for most of the game.
But thanks to Jeron Teng , who took charge in the final period, the Archers a pulled off 69-64 beating of the Adamson Soaring Falcons in their Final Four showdown on Wednesday (November 23) at the Mall of Asia Arena.
His huge effort in the final stretches of the game allowed La Salle to return to the finals in the 79th University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) men’s basketball tournament.
Teng, who is on his final year with the Green Archers, struck with 11 of his 25-point output in the last quarter, including a crucial drive in the last 4:16.
His basket came after the Green Archer Aljun Melecio sank two gift shots off Rob Manalang’s unsportsmanlike foul, even as La Salle retained possession afterwards, 64-58.
“In our team, whoever is the hottest gets the ball. In this game, I thought everything was going my way. So I kept on asking for the ball in the last two plays,” said Teng.
With their victory, the top seeded Green Archers are now back in the best-of-three finals after three years.
In 2013, La Salle, then coached by Juno Sauler, reached the finals and won its eighth crown at the expense of the University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers.
This time, the Taft-based squad made it to the best-of-three finals under new coach Aldin Ayo, who had delivered Letran to the National Collegiate Athletic Association cage crown the year before.
Ayo said the team felt the heat of Adamson’s pressure defense early in the game.
The Green Archers seemed to be playing with a better shooting percentage at halftime to lead, 37-33.
Ben Mbala scored 14 of his 21 points in the first half, and had five of 16 total rebounds before the Green Archers finally made efforts to go hard with their aggressive stance in the second half.
“They were pressuring, kaya hirap kami mag-execute. In the second half, I told them to take care of the ball and keep on executing,” said Ayo.
Sean Manganti tallied 13 points for the Soaring Falcons, who are in the Final Four after a five-year absence.
It was his four charities in the last 2:58 which allowed the Falcons to stay within range, 64-65.
But Teng’s layup off Pappi Sarr at the right side gave La Salle to keep their distance, 67-64, with 2:21 left.
Mbala’s inside presence with Abu Tratter and Thomas Torres in the remaining time forced Adamson to shoot from the outside, and miss at least three conversions off Jerrick Ahanmisi.
They finally forced Adamson to give up the ball in the last 10.1 seconds, with Teng finalizing the count .
Manala shot 11 points for Adamson, while Sarr eked out 11 points and seven rebounds.
Sarr’s two charities off Mbala’s foul in the last 4:43 gave Adamson its last chance to tie the match, 58-all.
The scores:
DLSU 69 – Teng 25, Mbala 21, Torres 6, Melecio 6, Tratter 4, Montalbo 3, Rivero P 2, Rivero R 2, Caracut 0, Paraiso 0, Perkins 0
ADAMSON 64 – Manganti 13, Manalang 12, Sarr 11, Ahanmisi 9, Espeleta 9, Ochea 5, Tungcab 3, Bernardo 2, Mustre 0, Paranada 0, Camacho 0, Barrera 0, Chua 0, Ng 0
QUARTER SCORES: 22-20, 37-33, 50-51, 69-64