But while the Archers succeeded in stretching their win run to four to seize the lead with a 5-1 mark, they failed to impress their coach.
"My principle is to stop our opponents with a good defense not outshoot them. In this game, we did the latter, so I’m not satisfied," said Pumaren.
The Archers started hot with the troika of Mark Cardona, Ren Ren Ritualo and Manny Ramos leading the attack to give the team a hefty 29-16 lead after the first quarter.
But the Falcons, in one of the rare times they came out organized, outscored their fancied rivals and cut the deficit to 42-49 at the turn.
However, Cardona teamed up with Willy Wilson in a big La Salle third quarter run which the Falcons just couldn’t stop.
The score read, 84-65, at the start of the last quarter and the Archers simply coasted to the win while dealing the Falcons their sixth straight loss this year and 26th in row dating back to the 1999 season.
Host Far Eastern University held UE to a single field goal in the final three and a half minutes to hack out a 78-67 victory and join La Salle on top of the eight-team field.
James Zablan poured in eight of his 14 points in the final quarter but it was the Tamaraws’ inside strength that spelled the difference as they notched their fifth win in six matches.
Ronald Tubid tried to rescucitate the Warriors’ bid by scoring 10 of his 16 points in the last period but he simply ran out of steam to withstand the FEU attack.
James Yap, who suffered a minor sprain in the third quarter, led all scorers with 20 points but was hardly a factor down the stretch - a victim of FEU’s tenacious defense. The Warriors had a three-game win streak snapped as they slipped to 3-2.