Teng tows La Salle past UE scare

InterAKTV file photo/Roy Afable

La Salle flirted with disaster, enduring a late run from University of the East, before nailing a 67-59 victory in UAAP Season 75 Thursday at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum.

Rookie Jeron Teng fired 16 points and five rebounds, while guard LA Revilla and forward Jovet Mendoza added 11 points each to spearhead the Green Archers to their second straight victory of the season.

After building a 29-22 lead at halftime, the Green Archers were surprised by UE forward Adrian Santos, who scored nine points in the third quarter to help the Red Warriors trim the deficit to four after the period.

UE continued to threaten La Salle, as Santos continued his hot shooting to caryr the Red Warriors within one point, 51-50 in the fourth quarter. But Teng and Revilla came to the rescue for the Green Archers as they led a 9-0 run to grab a comfortable 61-50 lead and seal the victory.

“UE played with a lot of confidence,” La Salle coach Gee Abanilla said. “It’s a good thing that we survived this game.”

Despite leading the team, Teng, who turned from goat to hero in La Salle’s 73-68 victory over the University of the Philippines last Sunday, admitted that he still has a lot of things to work on to hone his game.

“(I had a) bad start, lots of turnovers. Kulang pa,” Teng said. “Lots of things pa to improve.”

Roi Sumang scored 20 points and five rebounds for UE, while Santos registered a double-double of 14 points and 14 rebounds. But it was not enough to keep the Red Warriors from suffering their second straight setback after yielding a 90-55 result to National University in the season opener last Saturday.

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