Opportunity knocked twice on De La Salle. So it was just right for the Green Archers to seize it this time.

De La Salle summoned what was missing in their previous games—nerves of steel at a most crucial time—to prevail over Ateneo, 70-69, in Season 70 of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines men’s basketball tournament yesterday at the full-house Araneta Coliseum.

The win sealed the No. 2 spot for De La Salle and the twice-to-beat advantage in the stepladder phase.

The Green Archers will now wait for the winner of the knockout game between Ateneo (which fell to No. 3) and University of Santo Tomas (ranked No. 4) at the beginning of the stepladder phase scheduled Sunday, 3 p.m. at the Araneta Coliseum.

Cholo Villanueva split his charities to give De La Salle a 70-67 edge with 9.3 second left. In the following possession, De La Salle’s Rico Maierhofer challenged the three-point try by Ateneo’s Jai Reyes. Covered, Reyes gave up the ball to Zion Laterre, who settled for a twinner—instead of a much-needed triple that could send the game to overtime—from the free-throw line with only a tenth of a second left.

“Our battle cry was to prevail,” said De La Salle coach Franz Pumaren. “The last two games were crucial losses but the manner in which we lost showed our character.”

Pumaren admitted his team was “cool” prior to the game.

“Modesty aside, it was the most relaxed atmosphere in the dressing room. I guess they wanted to prove something after losing two consecutive games. The boys just won’t allow it [to lose three straight games],” Pumaren said.

De La Salle lost back-to-back games to end their elimination round against Ateneo and University of the East to drop to 9-5. The Archers had given up hope of getting the No. 2 spot, until Ateneo, which was a shoo-in to take the incentive, was shocked by National U in the season’s last game.

JV Casio shone bright for the Green Archers with 21 points in 35 minutes, including a three-of-seven clip from the three-point distance. Maierhofer finished with 13 points and 12 rebounds, while TY Tang had 10 points.

“Coming into the season, I’ve always said that our goal was to reach the Final Four. Now, we are here,” Pumaren added.

A PJ Walsham basket in the paint gave De La Salle a 67-65 advantage. After stops by Tang and Bader Malabes that gave possession back to De La Salle, Casio scored on a slashing lay-up to give the Archers a 69-65 margin, 1:54 to go in the game.

Ateneo, which survived two clutch games in sweeping De La Salle in the preliminaries, faltered in the endgame this time.

After Chris Tiu made a pair of charities with 1:45 to go, Ateneo came up empty in the next possessions capped by a Reyes’s miss from the three-point distance and a miss by Ford Arao from point-blank range. Tang immediately collared the rebound and passed the ball to Casio, who was immediately fouled with 10.4 seconds to go.

Following an Ateneo time-out, Villanueva was immediately fouled. He was given two bonus shots but only made one.

Pumaren revealed that, days before the game, he read an entry in a reflection book entitled The Daily Bread where the topic was about second chances.

“I really don’t know if it was destiny on our part. But we were given a second chance. The window of opportunity was given to us so we might as well grab it,” said Pumaren.

Kirk Long led the Blue Eagles with 11 points while Chris Tiu and Eric Salamat each had 10 points.

Ateneo was only two-of-14 from the three-point distance. Tiu was responsible for both conversions. On the other hand, La Salle was four-of-16 outside, three of which came from Casio in the fourth quarter.

“Whoever we play, we will just be ready,” said Pumaren, when asked on who he wanted to face in the stepladder phase.

Meanwhile, the UAAP board has suspended with finality De La Salle’s Brian Ilad for five more games. Ilad will therefore miss the rest of the season and will have exhausted his eligibility as a varsity player.

Ilad is a transferee from Philippine College of Criminology and is only eligible to play for this season.

The UAAP technical committee had earlier slapped “at least a two-game suspension” on Ilad pending approval by the UAAP Board.

The UAAP board has also asked all school officials, alumni and supporters of the respective member-schools to “maintain proper decorum and civility” during games. 

Ateneo versus La Salle for juniors’ crown

ATENEO is back in the finals. And the Blue Eaglets will defend the crown against a team they failed to face when they took home the title last year.

The defending champions bested National University (NU), 94-75, yesterday to enter the finals of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) juniors’ basketball tournament at the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Gym.

Waiting in the wings is De La Salle-Zobel, the 2005 champion, in the best-of-three titular series which starts Saturday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

De La Salle-Zobel beat Far Eastern University-Nicanor Reyes Foundation (FEU-FERN), 67-61, on Sunday to qualify for the finals. The Junior Archers won in 2005 but failed to defend the next season after the much-ballyhooed suspension the league slapped on all De La Salle teams.

Without De La Salle last year, the Blue Eaglets swept the eliminations and beat FEU-FERN in three games in the finals.

“There is no advantage if it’s Ateneo vs. La Salle ,” said Ateneo coach Jamike Jarin. “It’s going to boil down on who has the biggest heart.”

Kiefer Ravena and Juami Tiongson led the Blue Eaglets with 16 points each while Most Valuable Player candidate Jayvee Dumrique followed suit with 15 points.

Ateneo used a strong second-quarter binge, outscoring the Bullpups, 33-23, in the second period to make it 49-35 at halftime.

The fourth-ranked Bullpups, which finished the eliminations with a 6-8 record, forced a rubber match with a 73-70 victory over the Blue Eaglets on Sunday.

But NU, which trailed by as many as 23 points, did not play with the same intensity yesterday.

Kevin Batac led the Bullpups with 22 points and Clarence Berry finished with 19.

Game One is set 9:30 a.m. after the series curtain raiser of the women’s basketball finals between Ateneo and University of the Philippines at 8 a.m.

AT THE RIGHT TIME

Opportunity knocked twice on De La Salle. So it was just right for the Green Archers to seize it this time.

De La Salle summoned what was missing in their previous games—nerves of steel at a most crucial time—to prevail over Ateneo, 70-69, in Season 70 of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines men’s basketball tournament yesterday at the full-house Araneta Coliseum.

Lions-Knights series on

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Ask Coach E: Call for national players answered

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