Archers live, die, live again

La Salle escaped a disastrous finish on a shocking comeback by the University of the East in the last nine seconds of regulation and snatched the win in overtime, 86-83, in a classic match in the UAAP basketball tournament at the Blue Eagle gym yesterday.

Squandering a six-point lead in the closing seconds of regulation on crucial miscues by their reserve crew, the Archers called on their main men to complete the job in extra period, pulling off the important win that brought them closer to the Final Four.

JV Casio knocked in back-to-back triples as the Archers eventually outlasted the Warriors’ 83-78, and went on to notch their seventh win against four defeats.

La Salle stalled UE’s bid for an outright entry into the semis and the Archers moved within just half-game of the Warriors (8-4).

"We celebrated early and we nearly paid for it," said La Salle coach Franz Pumaren.

Earlier, University of the Philippines closed the semis door on Adamson as the Maroons whipped the Falcons, 70-63, in a game marred by the ejection of Adamson coach Mel Alas on technical fouls at endgame. Making it two in a row over the Falcons this season, the Maroons stayed within sight of the second running Ateneo Eagles (8-2), the Warriors and the Archers with a 6-6 win-loss card. The Falcons slid further down to 3-9.

The La Salle-UE battle was a thriller of a showdown and could easily emerge as the game of the season.

The Archers started whooping it up on the court with a 72-66 spread with less than a minute in the game when the Warriors made an incredible run that had them surging ahead at 74-72 with 1.8 ticks left.

But when the Warriors thought they had snatched the game, the Archers pulled off a last-gasp play with Cholo Villanueva scoring an undergoal shot at the buzzer that silenced the UE crowd.

Debris rained onto the court as La Salle threw away a six-point lead and when UE committed a defensive lapse in the dying second.

In overtime when UE’s main men out on fouls, the Archers jumped the gun on the Warriors and methodically pulled away.

Bonbon Custodio came back strong from a poor game against Ateneo, making a personal league high of 26 points that went for naught with the defeat.