The Green Archers banked on a big second half explosion to overcome fast-starting Far Eastern U Tamaraws Wednesday night with a thrilling 71-68 victory that enabled them to advance to the finals of the Season 76 men’s tournament at the MOA Arena.
Three players–LA Revilla, Jeron Teng and Norbert Torres–tallied at least 15 points while taking turns in the team’s big wind-up as the second-seed La Salle gained a fitting follow-up to an impressive 74-69 victory last Saturday and booked its trip to the finals for the first time since 2008.
It was also the ninth straight win for La Salle, which will now have to wait for the winner of the other semis duel between top-seed National U and fourth-ranked University of Santo Tomas.
Carl Cruz tallied a game-high 16 points but top guards Terrence Romeo, the season MVP, RR Garcia and Mike Tolomia only combined for 27 markers on 10-of-35 shooting from the field, as the Tamaraws' campaign ended in disappointment after a hot 7-0 start.
The Main Man: For the nth time this season, Jeron Teng pulled off another heroic act for La Salle.
The 6-foot-2 Teng churned in a double-double outing of 15 points and 10 rebounds on top of six assists while clustering four clutch points that enabled the Archers to gain control for good, 69-66, inside the final two minutes.
Honorable Mentions: Fresh from a 20-point explosion, LA Revilla waxed hot anew with 15 points, 10 coming in the second half while hauling down eight big rebounds.
Also giving the Archers a big lift was power forward Norbert Torres, who also had 15 points on top of seven rebounds. More importantly, the 6-foot-6 slotman also imposed his will in the paint and pounded the relatively smaller Tams in the crunch.
Game Turning Point: Falling behind by as many as 11, the last at 38-49 in the third canto, the Archers willed their way back and went ahead at 65-63 off a Norbert Torres floater.
A triple by Roger Pogoy gave the lead back to FEU with less than four minutes to play but Teng came up big anew, hitting four key freebies that put La Salle in control anew.
After several misses, Terrence Romeo kept FEU’s hopes alive with a lay-up before Jason Perkins, fouled by Mac Belo, restored La Salle’s lead to three with 4.4 ticks left.
With no more timeouts, Romeo tried his best but his potentially game-tying trey went wide as time expired.
They Said It:
La Salle coach Juno Sauler: “Hats off to the players. They played their hearts out that’s why we were able to pull this one. Both teams are tough. We just have to prepare whoever we will be facing in the finals. Ayoko munang i-describe ‘yung season, hindi pa kami tapos.
La Salle LA Revilla: “Our team adjusted. I also have to give credit to my teammates because we are trusting each other. It’s a matter of putting my mind to the game. I know how important this game is and I don’t want to take it for granted,”
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