Green Archers sweep CEU, complete three-peat in PBA D-League Aspirants’ Cup
The EcoOil — De La Salle University (DLSU) Green Archers stayed invincible in the PBA D-League Aspirants’ Cup Finals as they swept the Centro Escolar University (CEU) Scorpions in the best-of-three championship, 96–66, yesterday at the Ynares Center — Pasig.
Mike Phillips was crowned as the Conference MVP before the Green Archers shot down the Scorpions, playing with what seemed to be an invincible lineup where DLSU claimed victory to become the PBA D-League’s champions for the third year in a row.
The Green Archers dominated the boards and the defensive end in Game 2, led by CJ Austria’s 19 points and two steals on 7/11 shooting off the bench. Despite CEU’s sudden runs and outbreaks, they failed to decode DLSU’s offense and defense, which paved the way for the latter to stay undefeated throughout the tournament.
The second game of the Finals opened with a block from Phillips, leading to a triple from JC Macalalag. Immediately after, Dylan Darbin put CEU on the board with a triple of his own to tie at 3-all. From then on, the Lasallian defense led by Phillips and Henry Agunnane propelled the Green Archers to a 5–0 run to lead at 8–3, forcing CEU to a timeout with 7:38 to go in the opening quarter. After restrategizing in the timeout, a layup from CEU’s Franz Diaz momentarily ended La Salle’s run. However, Joshua David immediately answered with a three. La Salle displayed their dominance defensively, suffocating the Scorpions by forcing multiple turnovers and creating points off the forced errors to eventually get a first double-digit lead at 15–5 after a CJ Austria layup with five minutes to go. The battle in the paint heavily favored the Green Archers, dominating the boards on both ends of the floor to convert the efforts into points that gave them a huge 18-point lead with two minutes to go. With a minute remaining, both squads exchanged triples, eventually ending the first quarter with La Salle on top at 33–16.
Austria’s 10 points in the opening period on 4/5 shooting continued to flourish in the second canto, where he immediately answered CEU’s opening triple with four straight points. La Salle’s defensive dominance stayed evident, as the height advantage of Agunnane and Phillips had the Scorpions struggling to grab boards and find shots in the paint. The squad from Taft increased their cushion to as much as 22 points, holding on to it with Agunnane crashing the boards and protecting the rim. Despite being down big, the Scorpions fought to cut the lead by creating shots at the paint and finding their shooters. Diaz scored an and-one floater plus a bonus that cut the lead to 14 for CEU, but Macalalag stayed hot from the distance, shooting a buzzer-beater triple to end the half at 47–30.
Despite the height disadvantage, CEU refused to let up by not allowing La Salle to continue dominance in the paint. In the opening of the second half, the teams traded baskets continuously. The Scorpions started to build their rhythm by creating stops on the defensive end, with Marcelo and Puray leading CEU to cut the lead to 12 at 41–53. However, Macalalag and Jonnel Policarpio blew the fire with back-to-back triples to put the lead back to 18 and force a CEU timeout with 4:41 left in the third. From then on, the Lasallians recalibrated their game, returning their presence on the defensive end and converting stops into points to deny the Scorpions from scoring, putting the lead back to as much as 21 and ending the third period up by 19 at 66–47.
As the final quarter commenced, CEU attempted to come back with Gamboa and Puray keeping their shooting strokes and hands on the defensive end active, but Phillips and Raven Cortez controlled the glass and bullied their way into creating chances for La Salle, scoring consecutive layups and crashing the boards to put DLSU up by 24 while forcing CEU to call time. With five minutes to go, the Scorpions stepped on the gas to bridge the gap, cutting it down to 16 in a crucial run. However, La Salle immediately answered back with the conference MVP leading the way for EcoOil — La Salle, creating a gap as big as 26 at 90–64 before calling time with three minutes left in the final period. Despite leading big, the squad from Taft refused to let go of the gas pedal, and the young stars of DLSU took the floor in the final minutes as they played their hearts out.
In the end, the Green Archers emerged victorious as CEU dribbled out the last possession, 96–66, securing the Green and White’s third title in a row from the PBA D-League, after sweeping CEU in the Finals to remain undefeated in the Aspirants’ Cup tournament.
