La Salle coach says Ferrer 'killed us'

If La Salle wants to bounce back and even their best-of-three UAAP Season 76 men’s cage finals showdown with pumped-up University of Santo Tomas, the Green Archers have to do a better job defending the Growling Tigers.

That was the assessment made by La Salle coach Juno Sauler, moments after his charges dropped a stinging 72-73 defeat Wednesday night that pushed them on the brink of a monumental collapse despite being tagged as the heavy favorites.

“They just shot better in all departments. It’s going to be hard to win if your opponent is shooting that better,” he rued, referring to the Tigers’ efficient 26-of-60 (43.3 percent) shooting from the field, highlighted by seven triples.

Nobody among the Espana-based cagers made more offensive damage than lanky forward Kevin Ferrer, who exploded for 20 points, spiked by five triples, including a clutch one at the top of the key that pushed them further ahead 73-69 with 41.6 seconds to play.

Karim Abdul produced a double-double of 19 points and 12 rebounds while skipper Jeric Teng added 17 markers but Sauler admitted “it was who Ferrer who killed us.”

VIEW: Slideshow of Game 1

After trailing by as many as 17 points in the first canto, La Salle methodically clawed its way back and even had a pair of opportunities to steal the win following a completed Jeron Teng’s three-point play that pulled them within 72-73 with less than 30 seconds to play.

However, those chances–first a triple by Almond Vosotros and the last, a lay-up by guard LA Revilla–failed to get the Archers over the hump.

“We had a good shot. Almond was wide open. He had a good look. That’s part of the game. If you make it, then you make it. If you missed it…but we had the chance. Those were just breaks of the game in the last possession,” Sauler said.

While UST counterpart Pido Jarencio and Jeric Teng pointed out that their “championship experience” spelled the key in the stretch, Sauler had another view. “It’s not really their championship experience but they are really playing well their last three games. They’ve been starting well in their past few games. We should not allow them to do that on our next game. We just have to do better next game,” he said.

Sauler also stressed the early foul troubles that hounded center Arnold Van Opstal and wide-bodied power forward Jason Perkins also did them in, allowing the Tigers to take immediate control.

“We couldn’t get ourselves going because Arnold and Jason both had two early fouls. We have no choice but to go deeper to our bench. Then Ferrer made three three-pointers in the first period,” he rued.

To give themselves a better chance in Game 2 set this Saturday also at the Big Dome, Sauler knows what his wards need to do. “We have to take away the shots of Ferrer from the three-point area and make sure we challenge their shots especially on the perimeter. We also have to play better offensively and get good shots. We also want Arnold and Jason to get more touches (at the post). That’s where we generate our offense,” he noted.