Warriors continue giant-killing ways, bring down Green Archers in thriller

The University of the East Red Warriors continued their giant-killing ways as they scored another upset in the UAAP, this time against the De La Salle University Green Archers, 68-66, Wednesday afternoon at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

In their first round meeting, UE gave up a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter to lose to La Salle. This time around, the Red Warriors flipped the script on the defending champions.

An and-one play from Julian Sargent gave the Green Archers a 61-51 advantage with only 4:05 left in the game but instead of giving up, the Red Warriors fought back with their usual pressing defense.

UE forced La Salle to commit seven turnovers in the fourth quarter as they slowly chipped away at the lead. A jumper from Bong Galanza completed UE’s fight back as they tied the game at 63-all with 55 seconds left in the game.

Dan Alberto then stole the ball off Almond Vosotros and he went all the way for a three-point play off a foul by Jeron Teng on the other end to give UE a 66-63 lead.

Teng lost the ball in La Salle’s next possession as he ran into the defense of Charles Mammie. Roi Sumang splits his free throws for a 67-63 lead before Vosotros hit a triple to cut the lead to one with 1.7 seconds left. Chris Javier put the game away with a split for the final count.

With the win, which came after equally impressive wins over contenders NU and FEU, UE remained in the hunt for the last two spots in the Final Four. A loss to La Salle and an NU victory over UST in the second game would have eliminated them. Now holding an 8-5 win loss record powered by a 5-1 second round tally so far, UE could force a tie for the final playoff spot against the loser of the upcoming NU-DLSU match on Saturday.

At 9-4, La Salle could still force a best-of-three series against the loser of the FEU-Ateneo game if they defeat the Bulldogs in their final assignment.

Bong Galanza, the reigning UAAP Press Corps Player of the Week, had another great game with 21 points and seven rebounds.

Teng led La Salle with 24 points, nine rebounds, and four assists while Vosotros added 11 points, five rebounds, and two assists. Sargent also played well off the bench with 10 points, three rebounds, and two steals.

UE didn’t get much from their imports as the two only combined for seven points and nine rebounds but La Salle also got limited production from their bigs. Arnold Van Opstal only managed two points as he was in foul trouble for much of the game while Jason Perkins failed to score a single point while committing seven turnovers in the game although he did grab 10 rebounds.

Teng carried the fight for the Archers early on as he scored six point early in the first quarter. However, Galanza matched the King Archer’s first quarter output to give UE a 17-13 lead after the first ten minutes.

The Red Warriors doubled their defensive intensity in the second quarter as they took control of the game. Roi Sumang got a couple of steals and scored 10 points in the second period to lead UE’s attack.

They first got a taste of a double-digit lead at 25-15 after a long two from Gino Jumao-as. La Salle, on the other hand, only scored two field goals in the second period to allow the Red Warriors to take a 36-22 advantage at the half.

The scoring dried up for the Red Warriors in the third quarter as they were only able to muster three points in the first seven minutes. La Salle on the other hand scored nine in that span to cut UE’s lead down to seven at 39-32.

La Salle got key contributions from Prince Rivero and Sargent to cut UE’s lead down to four, 43-39, at the end of the third.

The Green Archers quickly took the lead in the fourth quarter as they took advantage of Moustapha Arafat’s porous inside defense. Their three-point shooting also clicked with Vosotros and Teng draining long bombs. However, they played to conserve the lead in the final minutes allowing UE to creep back into the contest.

The Main Man: Galanza is turning out to be one of the best closers in the UAAP this season. The high scoring Red Warrior scored 10 points in the final period to bring UE back from the dead.

Honorable Mentions: Sumang once against played off the bench but his scoring and defense were crucial for UE. Sumang had 14 points, two assists, and a whopping five steals while Javier added eight points and six rebounds.

Game Turning Point: Alberto’s steal off Vosotros and three-point play off Teng turned the game for the Red Warriors but La Salle still had the chance to tie the game after that point. Mammie’s defense on Teng led to a free throw for Sumang to put the game away for good.

He Said It:

UE head coach Derrick Pumaren: I think this was a character game for us. Alberto made that big, big steal.

The scores:

UE 68: Galanza 21, Sumang 14, Javier 8, Alberto 6, Jumao-as 6, Mammie 4, Arafat 3, Varilla 2, De Leon 2, Palma 2, Guiang 0, Olayon 0.

DLSU 66: Teng 23, Vosotros 11, Sargent 10, Torres 7, Rivero 7, Montalbo 6, Van Opstal 2, Perkins 0, Andrada 0.

Quarters: 17-13, 39-32, 43-39, 68-66.