Basketball
La Salle rallies to strike down UP
La Salle found itself pushed to the wall by another lowly UAAP squad, but the Green Archers fought back and pulled off one of the biggest comeback victories this season.
The Green Archers climbed back from 20 points down in the second period before squeaking past the Fighting Maroons, 73-72, on Sunday at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum.
The win enabled the Taft-based dribblers to snap their four-game losing skid and improve their record to 5-7. They are two games behind fourth-running University of Santo Tomas (7-5), with each team having two assignments left.
To force a playoff for the last semis berth, La Salle needs to sweep its last two games against National University and Far Eastern University, while hoping that the Growling Tigers drop their last two games against the same teams.
“We didn’t have the confidence right from the start, but after halftime, nagising bigla yung mga bata. Nandoon na yung effort eh,” said La Salle coach Dindo Pumaren.
For a while, a fifth straight defeat looked imminent for the Green Archers. They were outscored by the Fighting Maroons, 23-4, in the first period, then trailed by 20 points, 33-13, at the 4:23 mark of the second period.
Although they managed to fight back and trimmed the lead to 12, 35-23, La Salle needed a big push in the second half to turn things around.
La Salle’s run, jump and switch full court press went to work double-time. With their defense clicking, the Green Archers were able to outscore the Fighting Maroons, 25-15, and turn the game into an exciting one.
By the end of the third, the Green Archers were only trailing by a basket, 48-50.
With the momentum on their side, the Green Archers, led by brainy guard Almon Vosotros, continued their surge and rattled off a 9-0 run to start the fourth. Vosotros had seven points in that run, pushing La Salle ahead, 57-50, with 7:55 left.
UP did not fold up easily and was very much in the game until the final seconds of the match. A lay-up by Paolo Romero put the Fighting Maroons within striking distance, 70-72, with 16.1 seconds remaining.
A split by La Salle’s Norbert Torres kept the door open for the Fighting Maroons, 73-70, with still 14.4 seconds left, but Mike Gamboa shot two air balls in UP’s final possession before Romero had a two-point basket at the buzzer for the final tally.
Vosotros scored 10 of his 12 points in the payoff period to carry the Archers while Torres came up with a double double performance of 15 points and 12 rebounds.
Mike Silungan had a game-high 19 points for UP.
The scores:
La Salle 73 – Torres 15, Vosotros 12, Revilla 11, Dela Paz 8, Van Opstal 7, Tampus 5, Paredes 4, Villanueva 4, Atkins 4, Sara 2, Marata 1
UP 72 – Silungan 19, Maniego 14, Romero 12, Gamboa 12, Montecastro 6, Juruena 5, Manuel 2, Gomez 2
Quarters: 7-23, 23-35, 48-50, 73-72
