Green Archers conquer San Beda, advance to Semis
The De La Salle University (DLSU) Green Archers conquered the San Beda University (SBU) Red Lions, 94–80, in the Quarterfinals of the 17th FilOil EcoOil Preseason Cup yesterday at the FilOil EcoOil Center. With this victory, La Salle advanced to the Semifinals where they will face off against the Colegio San Juan de Letran (Letran) Knights later today.
Coming into the game, both teams ended the elimination round with high rankings in their respective brackets. Within the UAAP bracket, La Salle finished the elimination round second overall with a 5–2 win-loss record, while in the NCAA bracket, San Beda was third in the standings, sporting a 6–3 record. The two top-seeded squads both aimed to come out on top, as the winner would move on to the Semifinals.
The Quarterfinals match was a tight contest wherein La Salle was in the lead for most of it, but the Red Lions would then go on runs to equalize. In the end, the Green Archers managed to take the W home after slowly ballooning the separation to as much as 24 points at the end of the third quarter. Andre Dungo was awarded Player of the Game honors after contributing 12 points, one rebound, and two assists that helped lead the Green Archers in the triumph.
At the beginning of the game, La Salle struggled to get their offense going, leading to San Beda holding the lead with a scoop shot from Yukien Andrada at the helm of it. But a Dungo three coupled with free throws from Raven Cortez placed the score at 5–6. It was Earl Abadam’s shot from beyond the arc that shifted the lead to the Archers, 10–8 before a Bryan Sajonia shot equalized the score. Kevin Quiambao responded with a three-pointer of his own followed by a Cortez and-one to give the advantage to the Green and White, 15–10. On the side of the Lions, James Payosing rallied their offense with a layup but KQ scored again to cut this short. Both teams then went on to miss baskets for a while before Nygel Gonzales completed a three-point play, 22–15 with 2:55 on the clock. After a timeout, the Red Lions went on a 5–0, managing to cut the lead to 24–22 before an RC Calimag three shifted the advantage to SBU, 24–25. Nevertheless, Jonnel Policarpio’s drive to the basket and free throws from CJ Austria allowed La Salle to close out the quarter ahead by six, 31–25.
In the second canto, much like the previous ten minutes, La Salle was in control of the game as they held the lead during the firsft half of the quarter. Henry Agunanne completing a three-point play after being fouled on a jumper opened up the scoring for La Salle to which Andrada answered back with a floater, 34–27. From there, the Lions continued to play catch-up with an Emmanuel Tagle trey, Andrada floater, and a Payosing drive cutting La Salle’s lead to just two, 36–34. But the Green Archers continued to make baskets of their own with KQ shooting another three and free throws along with Dungo’s alley-oop play to gain separation again. With less than three minutes left in the half, the Green Archers upped their defense to keep the Mendiola-based squad in check, 50–39. An Abadam three and free throws from Agunanne soon concluded the first half with La Salle holding a comfortable 56–39 advantage.
Shots from beyond the arc opened up the second half as Abadam responded to Calimag’s trey with a shot of his own, 59–42. The same story continued for most of the third quarter, wherein La Salle continued to make shots and expand the lead while the Red Lions aimed to equalize on the other end. Cortez, Dungo, and JC Macalalag were the prime contributors to the Green Archers offense throughout the quarter. Likewise, jumpers and layups from Andrada combined with a bank shot from Sajonia led the Lions’ offensive efforts, 69–51, with 5:43 left on the clock. A Beda three, and Tagle’s layup followed by a free throw attempted to further diminish the gap, but shots from Austria and Macalalag soon gave La Salle their biggest lead of 24 points, 83–59 just before the end of the third quarter.
Eager to equalize and make a comeback, SBU scored first via a jumper at the start of the last ten minutes of the game. A couple of turnovers from La Salle along with a Payosing three looked to shift momentum to the Red Lions, but an Austria layup cut it short, 85–61. From there, the Green Archers continued to add to the advantage, as Vhoris Marasigan scored back-to-back points from a drive to the rim and a jumper, 92–73, with five minutes left on the clock. Despite the combined efforts of a Tagle trey, and a midrange jump shot from Payosing, San Beda could not get within ten from La Salle. During the last 16 seconds of the ballgame, the Green Archers dribbled it out, 94–80, claiming victory and successfully securing a spot in the next round of the tournament.
Support the Green Archers in the Semifinals of the tournament as they take on the Letran Knights, later today, at 6 PM, at the same venue as they aim to notch another preseason championship.
Quarter-scores: 31–25, 56–39, 83–59, 94–80
