Green Archers fall to rival Ateneo after second half collapse
The De La Salle University (DLSU) Green Archers fell short to archrivals the Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU) Blue Eagles, 54–68, yesterday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
La Salle have now lost four consecutive games, their latest win being against the FEU Tamaraws in round one.
Evan Nelle stepped up in Schonny Winston’s absence and led the scoring with 15 points accompanied by seven rebounds and five assists. Two of DLSU’s bigs made their presence felt in the rebounding category as Bright Nwankwo recorded 11 in total and Kevin Quiambao grabbed eight boards of his own.
The first quarter began with a quick 6–0 lead for the Green Archers as solid defense kept Ateneo’s offense at bay. Back-to-back three-pointers for the Blue Eagles pulled them back into the game, but La Salle held on to their advantage for the remainder of the period. Turnover troubles for both teams with time running down kept the scoring to a minimum as DLSU held the 16–10 lead ahead of the second.
La Salle remained in the driver’s seat for the first five minutes of the second, but Ateneo finally caught up and overtook the green-and-white after a triple courtesy of Dave Ildefonso put them ahead by two. Ateneo shifted to a more aggressive full-court defense after inheriting the lead in their efforts to force mistakes from the Green Archers. Turnovers were once again a recurring theme in the second which led to a scarcity of points as the clock was running down. Neither side had the edge over the other by halftime as both teams remained level-pegging at halftime, 29-all.
If the first half was a highly competitive outing, it was clear from the beginning of the third canto that one team had the upper hand. Ange Kouame kicked off the scoring with a three-pointer, which sparked an 18–3 run for the Blue Eagles. La Salle’s shots were not falling from anywhere on the court whereas Ateneo’s scoring seemed nearly unstoppable. The men from Taft managed to string together a couple of buckets towards the end of the third, but their Katipunan-based rivals were still comfortably ahead, 56–39, entering the final frame.
The Green Archers’ woes continued in the early stages of the fourth but eventually reduced their deficit to just 12 after a series of free-throws by CJ Austria and successive buckets from Penny Estacio and Joaqui Manuel. La Salle kept fighting until the very end, but their efforts weren’t enough to pull off a comeback as they ultimately bowed to the Blue Eagles, 54–68.
Box Scores:
DLSU 54 — Nelle 15, Nwankwo 7, Quiambao 6, Nonoy 6, Austria 5, Estacio 5, Manuel 4, M. Phillips 3, Abadam 2, Macalalag 1
ADMU 68 — Ildefonso 12, Padrigao 11, Ballungay 11, Kouame 11, Koon 11, Andrade 8, Gomez 2, Chiu 2, Lazaro 0
Quarterscores: 16–10, 29–29, 39–56, 54–68
