Green Archers suffer first loss against archrival Blue Eagles
The De La Salle University (DLSU) Green Archers succumbed to defending champions Ateneo De Manila University (ADMU) Blue Eagles, 57–74, after the battle of the undefeated in the UAAP Season 84 Men’s Basketball Tournament, on Saturday, April 2, at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
The Green Archers and Blue Eagles started the opening minutes of the first quarter with a low-scoring affair, two a-piece before the 6:11 mark. La Salle struggled offensively as the Blue Eagles unleashed a 14–6 run and doubled its lead to eight before Mark Nonoy ended the quarter with a triple of his own. La Salle trailed by five, 11–16, at the end of the first frame.
In the second frame, the Katipunan-based squad was able to extend their lead as much as 11 points. Green Archers Michael Phillips and Mark Nonoy, however, spearheaded the scoring for the Green and White, while Justine Baltazar and Phillips had a block party in the ending minutes of the second canto to cut their deficit down to three, ending the first half trailing, 32–35.
The Taft-based squad was off to a good start as they opened the third quarter with a collective effort from Evan Nelle, Phillips, Baltazar, and Kurt Lojera to inch closer to Ateneo, 41–42. However, Tyler Tio answered La Salle’s run with back-to-back triples to bring the momentum back to their side. From then on, the Green and White struggled to counter Ateneo’s run, scoring only 13 as opposed to Ateneo’s 23, 45–58.
In the final ten minutes of the game, the Taft-based squad tried to make runs and fought hard on defense limiting their archrival Ateneo to only 16 markers, but still fell short at the end of the final buzzer, 57–74.
At the end of regulation, the De La Salle University absorbed their first loss of the season against the Ateneo De Manila University, 57–74.
Phillips led the Green Archers with a double-double performance of 13 points on 66.7% shooting and 10 rebounds together with 3 blocks. Mark Nonoy and Evan Nelle added 12 and 10 points, respectively to help the squad.
On the flip side, the Blue and White was led by Ange Kouame with a monster performance of his own, tallying 16 points and 19 rebounds. Veteran Gian Mamuyac and Dave Ildefonso also combined for 23 points and 11 boards.
As UAAP opens its gates for audience, catch the DLSU Green Archers (3–1) as they attempt to reassemble back to the winning column on Tuesday, April 5 10AM against the España-based squad UST Growling Tigers (2–2) at the SM Mall of Asia Arena
BOX SCORES:
DLSU 57 — M. Phillips 13, Nonoy 12, Nelle 10, Lojera 9, Winston 6, Baltazar 5, Nwankwo 2
ADMU 74 — Kouame 16, Ildefonso 12, Mamuyac 11, Belangel 8, Tio 6, Koon 6, Chiu 6, Andrade 3, Verano 2, Padrigao 2, Lazaro 2
