Archers tame Cobras, draw first blood in PCCL Finals

MANILA, Philippines – La Salle knows no lead is safe against Southwestern U. That's why the Archers made sure they have enough advantage to cushion the impact of the fourth quarter juggernaut unleashed by the strong-finishing Cobras.

La Salle roared to a mighty start and weathered a late, furious fightback by SWU to hammer out a vengeful 64-54 victory Monday that put them on the cusp of snaring its second championship in the Phl Collegiate Champions League at The Arena in San Juan City.

Jeron Teng, the reigning UAAP Finals MVP and Smart Player of the Year, led the waylaying with 18 points on an efficient seven-of-12 shooting clip and completed his solid all-around effort by adding six rebounds and five assists.

It was a departure from his lethargic effort Teng put up in a 58-68 overtime defeat at the hands of SWU last week when he was held to just seven points after missing nine of the 10 shots he attempted.

"That was different, this is a championship game where everybody needs to step up really big," said Teng.

La Salle will go for the jugular in today's Game Two set at 4 p.m. A deciding Game Three, if necessary, is on Thursday.

And the Archers did it with several key players hurting--Arnold Van Opstal (hip), Almond Vosotros (ankle), Matthew Salem (back) and Kib Montalbo (elbow).

Good thing though, Gab Reyes came off the bench stepped up by scattering nine points including a pair of booming triples while Robert Bollick started in place of Vosotros and made some key plays in the clutch.

Thomas Torres was also all over the place with 15 points, six boards, three dimes and two steals while Norbert Torres filled the void in the absence of Van Opstal, who turned 22 Sunday, with a double-double effort of 10 points and 12 caroms.

La Salle coach Juno Sauler, however, didn't like the way they finished.

"I was disappointed with how we finished, good thing we had a big lead to cushion the fall," he said.

Sauler also made sure there will be no repeat of its painful loss to SWU in a semis game a week ago at the Blue Eagle Gym where they led by a double-digit only to collapse late in regulation play and
OT where they were buried by the latter's explosion from the beyond the arc.

"They beat us with their three-point shooting last time we played so we made sure it will not happen again," said Sauler, whose Archers held the Cobras to just two three-point conversions out of the 19 they attempted, a far cry the six they made in their first encounter.

Teng and the sweet-shooting Torres, a sophomore who played high school ball for La Salle-
Greenhills, fuelled the first wave when La Salle erected a 21-8 lead at the end of the opening period and sustained it at the break when it still led, 34-21.
And then Teng exploded anew in the third canto when the Archers built a commanding 54-32 lead, its biggest of the game.

It appeared like the Taft-based school will cruise from there after sustaining the lead early in the fourth quarter, 59-37.

But La Salle's offense turned sour while Adams Mohammed unloaded an 11-point fourth quarter barrage he capped by draining a right baseline jumper that cut SWU's deficit down to a single digit, 52-61, with over three minutes to go.

It turned out the Cobras' last show of force as they were held to just a basket from there while Torres put on the finishing touch with that dagger three-point play after driving and eluding defenders.

The scores:

La Salle 64- Teng 18, T. Torres 15, N. Torres 10, Reyes 9, Bollick 5, Perkins 4, Dela Paz 3, Vosotros 0, Montalbo 0, Salem 0, Van Opstal 0, Tampus 0.

SWU 54- Sanjo 16, Arong 11, Goloran 7, Mohammed 6, Tallo 6, Bregondo 0, Siewe 2, Bautista 2, Holper 0

Quarterscores: 21-8; 34-21; 54-32; 64-54.