Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 9) – The De La Salle University Green Archers bucked the odds to escape the fourth quarter wrath of the Adamson University Soaring Falcons, 61-58, in UAAP Season 84 on Saturday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
After a tight contest in the first three periods, La Salle found themselves struggling early in the fourth quarter as Adamson held them scoreless for seven minutes and mounted a five-point lead from the scoring efforts of Jerom Lastimosa and JM Sabandal.
Schonny Winston made most of the clutch buckets for the Green Archers – including the one-hand floater that gave them the pivotal 56-55 lead with under a minute remaining in the game.
The Falcons failed to complete their play in the next possession as Archers guard Evan Nelle connected on a triple in the last 16.3 seconds of the game for a two-possession lead for the Taft-based cagers, 59-55.
Adamson standout Keith Zaldivar answered with a trey of his own in the next play to cut the deficit, 58-59, but they fouled La Salle’s Joaqui Manuel in the ensuing possession. Manuel completed both charity shots.
The San Marcelino-based Falcons did not have any wide open oportunity to force overtime in the last play of the contest.
With the victory, La Salle finished the first round of eliminations in third place of the team standings with a 5-2 record while Adamson fell to seventh place at 1-6.
Lastimosa led the Falcons with 15 points while Lenda Douanga contributed 11 markers and 11 rebounds.
The Scores:
LA SALLE 61 – Manuel 14, Nelle 12, Winston 10, M. Phillips 8, Lojera 8, Baltazar 6, Galman 3, Nwanwko 0, Nonoy 0, B. Phillips 0
ADAMSON 58 – Lastimosa 15, Douanga 11, Sabandal 10, Hanapi 9, Zaldivar 5, Manzano 4, Magbuhos 2, Peromingan 2, Yerro 0, Colonia 0, Calisay 0, Erolon 0, Maata 0, Jaymalin 0
Quarterscores: 15-15, 30-26, 45-42, 61-58
