MANILA, Philippines -- The La Salle Green Archers are back in the win column after squeaking past the Far Eastern University Tamaraws, 68-62, in the UAAP Season 87 men's basketball tournament Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Coming off a stunning loss against the University of the East Red Warriors on Sunday, the defending champions banked on double-doubles by Mike Phillips and Kevin Quiambao against the gritty Tamaraws, who are still yet to tally a victory this season.
Phillips finished with 13 points and 14 rebounds, while Quiambao had a near triple-double of 12 markers, 11 boards and eight dimes to go with three steals.
After trailing by as much as 13 points, 45-32 in the third frame, FEU unleashed an 18-6 run to cut the lead to one, 51-50, heading into the fourth quarter.
The two teams were kept in a nip-and-tuck battle at the start of the final canto.
A deuce by Janrey Pasaol pushed the Morayta-based squad ahead, 56-55, before a 7-0 blitz was uncorked by the Green Archers to take a commanding 62-56 advantage.
FEU, though, did not go down easily, as Mo Konateh punched in layups to keep the Tamaraws in it, 63-60.
Phillips, however, sank four straight points to push the lead to seven, 67-60, with 1:42 left.
A Veejay Pre shot and misses by La Salle gave FEU a chance to creep closer, but costly turnovers by the squad, as well as big misses by Pasaol down the stretch, secured the Green Archers’ victory.
La Salle head coach Topex Robinson said that the tough fightback by the Tamaraws just shows how difficult the season will be.
“Again, it’s just another challenging opportunity for us. I told them can I go back to our UE game? UE didn’t upset us. They really deserved the win… We don’t really consider it as an upset and UE just gave us something that really helped us,” he said.
“I guess, it kinda cleaned up the pressure of not losing. You know, when you get so used to winning parang kasalanan na matalo ka. But I guess what it did to us as a team was it grounded us. It just reminded us that this season for us is gonna be hard and even harder, just like what happened today with FEU,” he added.
“So if it doesn’t kill us, it’s just gonna make us stronger. I guess, that’s just the story of our season right now.”
Earl Abadam and Henry Agunanne produced nine markers apiece for the Taft-based squad.
Pasaol paced FEU with 13 points, three rebounds, three assists and three steals, but he had eight turnovers. Konateh had a big double-double of 12 points and 25 rebounds, while Pre had 11.
FEU dropped to 0-5 this season, while La Salle rose to 4-1.