Photo by Mario T Dagdag

IN A preseason game that exuded the intensity of a final four matchup, the De La Salle Green Archers outplayed and outlasted the Ateneo Blue Eagles in overtime, 62-59, of their matchup for the 2012 FilOil Flying V Preseason Hanes Cup at the San Juan Arena on June 2.

Despite overcoming an 11-point lead, the Blue Eagles fell prey to the hard-nosed defense and aggressive play of the Archers who were bannered by rookie sensation Jeron Teng, LA Revilla and Norbert Torres.

Coming out of the dugout with their foot on the gas pedal, La Salle seized momentum early on against their archrivals and prevented them from getting into rhythm. Their defense paid off as Ateneo shot a poor 31 percent (21 out of 68) from the field. Nico Salva only scored three points in 27 minutes of play and Kiefer Ravena was held to 24 percent (4 out of 17) shooting.

Ateneo missed regular big man, Greg Slaughter, who sat out of the game due to an ankle strain. His absence proved most costly on the defensive end as La Salle outrebounded Ateneo, 62-37. This lopsided margin translated to 16 second-chance points and 12 fast break points for the Taft-based squad.

La Salle kept the pressure on Ateneo as they threatened to run the break with every defensive rebound corralled by Torres and Yutien Andrada, who collected 11 boards. Meanwhile, Torres imposed himself on every big man that Ateneo coach Norman Black sent to face him, finishing with 13 points and 19 rebounds—one of his many double-doubles for DLSU this preseason.

When shots did not fall, it was Ryan Buenafe, the 2010 UAAP Finals MVP, who picked up the slack offensively. Buenafe—who received a roar of support from the Ateneo crowd upon entering the game with 4:25 left in the first quarter—scored eight points at will through baseline drives and perimeter jumpers.

On the other hand, Teng and Revilla slashed their way through the Ateneo defense and contributed four and seven points respectively, to help La Salle cap off a 10-2 run that put the men in green ahead at the half, 28-20.

The second half saw the biggest lead of the Archers, after Teng fired a three to jack up the DLSU lead to 11 points with 9:30 in the third quarter. Ateneo continued to miss and give up too many rebounds.

In the fourth quarter, Buenafe willed Ateneo back into the game as he scored 10 of his game-high 21 points in the fourth quarter, including a shot that equalized the score at 47-47 with 2:27 left.

From then on, Ravena went to work and buried an 18-footer from the elbow to give Ateneo the lead for the first time, 49-47. After Revilla answered back with a long two of his own, Ravena was fouled and sent to the strip, where he made both charities to keep Ateneo up at 51-49 with 1:01 left.

The last minute of regulation turned into a free throw contest. Teng made one of his two free throws while Ravena sank two clutch free-throws to make it 53-50 in favor of Ateneo with 18.8 seconds remaining. It looked like Ateneo was safe, or at least they thought.

With his team down by three, Teng shook off a defender and nailed a three-pointer with 5.6 left that shocked the Ateneo bench and sent the game into overtime. It was a moment of brilliance similar to the buzzer beater by New York Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin that killed the Toronto Raptors last NBA season.

With 1:19 left in overtime, Buenafe made another three from the corner to bring Ateneo two points behind La Salle, 59-57. Ateneo had two chances to tie the game but Justin Chua uncharacteristically missed two free throws and Ravena’s layup rolled out of the rim, which allowed the Archers to escape, 62-59.

“They played solid defense and they beat us with their rebounds,” pointed out Black. “Our shots weren’t falling and we were missing Greg today.” Meanwhile, he said that what allowed Ateneo to get back into the game was that they didn’t stop fighting.

On the other hand, new La Salle head coach, Gelacio “Gee” Abanilla, shared that they played aggressive from the start. “That really helped us,” he adds. When asked about what he told his players when Ateneo took the lead, the new coach said, “I didn’t really say anything in particular, because the players knew what had to be done. Their roles in the team are clear and they did very well.”

As for the rookie Teng, Abanilla describes the young guard as “a very talented player who has a great attitude and is very coachable.”

“The play wasn’t really meant for me. I just realized that I was open and that our team needed someone to take that shot,” Teng shared about his game-tying three. “Coming to the game, I was very motivated to play well because the rivalry between Ateneo and La Salle is a unique one.”

With this win, La Salle has now beaten Ateneo in the FilOil preseason tournament for five years in a row.

Regardless of the outcome of the match, the Blue Eagles face the FEU Tamaraws in the quarterfinals of Group A. The win, however, puts the Archers against the San Sebastian Stags in the quarterfinals of Group B.

Box Scores:

DLSU – 62:  Teng – 17, Revilla – 16, N. Torres – 13, Andrada – 5, Vosotros – 4, Mendoza – 2, Gotladera – 2, Tampus – 2, Manguera – 1, Reyes – 0, T. Torres – 0, Webb – 0.

ADMU – 59: Buenafe – 21, Ravena – 14, Erram – 6, Chua – 6, Tiongson – 4, Elorde – 4, Salva – 3, Gonzaga – 1, Golla – 0, Sumalinog – 0, Porter – 0, Pessumal – 0, Capacio – 0, Lim – 0.

Quarter Scores: 14-10, 28-20, 38-31, 53-53, 62-59 (overtime).

Percentages:

DLSU – 32% FG (23 out of 73); 20% 3pt (3 out of 15); 43% FT (13 out of 30)

ADMU – 31% FG (21 out of 68); 23% (3 out of 13); 67% FT (14 out of 21)