Eagles soar to No. 3; Archers break thru

Games on Saturday (Mall of Asia Arena)

2 p.m. – UST vs AdU

4 p.m. – AdMU vs NU

MANILA, Philippines - Defending champion La Salle finally hit the target after three tries and scored a breakthrough 57-55 squeaker over erstwhile undefeated National U yesterday while rival Ateneo made it three in a row with an 86-75 decision over the University of the Philippines  in the UAAP Season 77 men’s basketball tournament at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Jason Perkins punched in six of his game-high 14 points in the last 2:05, capping his heroics with the shot-clock-beating undergoal stab that provided the insurance for the Green Archers’s maiden win.

Rookie Arvin Tolentino shot a new career high of 20 markers, firing nine in a decisive 15-1 salvo that gave the Eagles a 15-point cushion late in the third en route to the routine triumph over the 0-3 Maroons.

“We stepped up defensively today (yesterday),” said DLSU coach Juno Sauler, whose team started its title defense on the wrong foot, losing to Far Eastern 77-82 and Ateneo, 86-97.

“They (NU) scored 55 against FEU and Ateneo, I think we were giving up 89 points; close to 33 points in the fourth quarter but now just 12 points (for NU in the fourth). So we really just have to toughen up defensively, especially at end game,” said Sauler.

Perkins played big in the stretch, knocking down two freebies and scoring on a putback to put the Archers at a safe distance. NU’s Alfred Aroga drove in to make it a two-point game but once more, Perkins was there to bail DLSU out.

With 1.9 seconds in their shot-clock, the Fil-Am forward took the inbounds pass from Jeron Teng and drained it in for a 57-53 cushion with 36.6 seconds left.

“I told Jeron to look for Norbert (Torres) then Arnold (van Opstal) and (with) Jason giving a pick and then Jason slipping. It took a while for the play to develop but Jeron was patient and found Jason underneath. We were lucky there,” said Sauler.

NU slipped to 2-1 and solo third, failing to join Ateneo at the top.

The winning margin didn’t really reflect the competitive nature of the win over UP, Ateneo coach Bo Perasol stressed.

“Hirap na hirap (It wasn’t easy),” said Perasol. “I really had this bad feeling that we’re going to have a grind against UP. In fact, for me, if not for the timely heroics of Arvin and Kiefer (Ravena), we would have been in trouble in the end.”

Ravena shot 13 of his 19 markers in the second half while Chris Newsome put up an 18-point, 12-rebound effort.

Perasol credited his former college coach, UP mentor Rey Madrid, for coming up well-prepared against the Eagles.

“Defensively, Kiefer had to bleed for his points and I also think we were a step slower than they were,” he said.

The factor of overconfidence from their La Salle game also came in. “At the onset, I wanted them to realize that that win against La Salle would just be the same as our win against UP. But young as they are, they thought it’s going to be a breeze against UP but in the end, we’re able to fight it out with a very determined UP,” Perasol said.

Notes: UAAP commissioner Andy Jao gave La Salle’s Arnold van Opstal a “stern warning” for hitting Ateneo’s Fonso Gotladera on the head in Sunday’s game. It was a non-call but nonetheless Jao decided to look into the case after it exploded all over social media and summoned van Opstal to explain his side. “I don’t think it was a disqualifying foul because he hit him with his wrist, obviously not a good action from a role model like him. As a high profile player from a high-profile school, he should be careful of his actions in the future.” He warned van Opstal that offense of a similar nature in the future could lead to harsher sanctioned. “I told him now, you’re going to be under the scrutiny of the referees in every game you play so anything that you do in the future almost of similar nature, you might be ejected quickly and if you’re ejected, you’re gonna get an automatic suspension so I told him to play the game the way it should be played,” said Jao.

The scores:

First Game

AdMU 86 – Tolentino 20, K. Ravena 19, Newsome 18, Capacio 9, Elorde 7, Pessumal 5, Babilonia 2, Gotladera 2, Javellosa 2, Li m 2, Apacible 0, T. Ravena 0.

UP 75 – Lao 16, Gallarza 10, Juruena 9, Gingerich 9, Asilum 9, Dario 6, Vito 6, Reyes 5, Moralde 5, Bederi 0.

Quarterscores: 23-21, 46-38, 66-54, 86-75

Second Game

DLSU 57 -Perkins 14, Torres 13, Teng 9, Van Opstal 7, Vosotros 7, Andrada 3, Montalbo 2, Rivero 2, Bolick 0.

NU 55 – Aroga 12, Rosario 10, Alolino 9, Khobuntin 9, Javelona 5, Diputado 4, Alejandro 3, Neypes 2, Perez 1, Betayene 0, Atangan 0, Celda 0, Salim 0.

Quarterscores: 12-16, 35-29, 45-43, 57-55