Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — The La Salle Green Archers are back in the finals.
The Taft-based team scored a berth in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Finals after getting past the Adamson Soaring Falcons, 69-64, on Wednesday evening at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Jeron Teng and Ben Mbala paced the Archers with 25 and 21 markers, respectively.
After a tightly contested opening period, the Archers went into the second frame touting a slim 22-20 lead.
La Salle opened up a 37-29 advantage before the halftime break, but conceded cheap turnovers as the time expired to allow Adamson to trim their lead to 37-33.
There was very little to separate the two teams entering the payoff period, with the Falcons holding a precarious 51-50 advantage over La Salle.
It was nip and tuck throughout the fourth period, but an unsportmansmanlike foul which led to two Aljun Melecio free throws and a Teng bucket extended La Salle’s lead to 64-58 with 4:27 left to play.
The Falcons were hit by another tough call from the officials after coach Franz Pumaren was slapped with a technical foul at the 3:40 mark, which La Salle used to extend their lead to 65-60.
But Adamson put up a fight, coming within 65-64 with 2:58 left to play.
With 23.7 ticks left on the clock, the Falcons had the chance to tie the ball game with the scores at 67-64.
Unfortunately, Maverick Ahanmisi failed to convert on what would have been a game-tying try with 11.5 seconds left to play.
La Salle was able to secure the rebound, and convert the resulting free throws to seal their place in the finals.
Sean Manganti, Robbie Manalang, and Papi Sarr led Adamson with double-digit scoring in the valiant but losing effort.
Despite the victory, La Salle coach Aldin Ayo was critical of his team’s performance and urged them to shape up before the finals.
“I’m hesitant to congratulate them because that was a horrible game for us,” Ayo said. “On our part medyo kulang, kulang yung ginawa namin.” (“On our part, we were lacking. Our efforts were lacking.”)
“Coming into the finals gusto ko magising yung team (“…I want the team to wake up.”),” Ayo added.
The Green Archers will await the winner of the matchup between the Ateneo Blue Eagles and the FEU Tamaraws.
The first game of the UAAP Finals will be played on December 3 at the Mall of Asia Arena.
