Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — It was the dream match that fans anticipated.
The La Salle Green Archers battled past rivals the Ateneo Blue Eagles to take Game 1 of their University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Championship series, 67-65, on Saturday evening at the Mall of Asia Arena.
The Green Archers started off the game with the hot hand, asserting their dominance early on to close out the opening frame with a 19-6 lead.
Ateneo would not bow down so easily, staging a fightback of their own to trim the deficit to 26-22 in the second period.
But unfortunately for the Katipunan-based outfit, La Salle managed to preserve their advantage headed into the halftime break, 36-26.
It was Ateneo’s turn to shine in the third quarter, as they bucked a 41-28 deficit to stage a rally of their own.
A furious run from Ateneo saw them level La Salle at 52-all going into the final period.
Fans were set for a grand slam finish after Chibueze Ikeh kept Ateneo within a point, 64-63, at the last two minute mark.
Matt Nieto finally gave Ateneo their first taste of the lead, 65-64, with 34.6 ticks left on the clock.
But Jeron Teng gave La Salle back the lead, 66-65, with 15.1 left to play soon after.
In the last possession of the game, Teng came up big after blocking Aaron Black’s jumper to give La Salle the possession.
With 3.3 ticks left to play, Kib Montalbo split his free throws but that proved to be enough to see La Salle through.
Game 2 of the best-of-three championship series will be played on Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
