Ralph Samson | FCF
After five seasons, De La Salle University is back to the pantheon of collegiate basketball greatness.
The multi-titled Green Archers got the breaks of the game and forced their Final Four foes to shoot silly shots as they completed a nine-game win streak by beating the Far Eastern University, 71-68, at the Mall of Asia Arena on Wednesday night.
Playing together to start the fourth quarter, the Archers were saved by twin towers Norbert Torres and Arnold Van Opstal.
Van Opstal scored four pivotal points in a 7-0 run that tied the game for La Salle at 59-59 after being down by as much as 11 points in the third quarter. Torres then sustained the run by scoring another four inside points, which included a teardrop shot which put the lead back to La Salle, 65-63.
However, the Tamaraws succumbed to numerous fouls, which included a technical on a complaining Gryann Mendoza late in the third quarter, which led to his fouling out. The graduating Mendoza scored all of his eight points in the third quarter wherein FEU tasted their biggest lead.
To compound the woes of the Tamaraws, leading scorer Carl Bryan Cruz fouled out at the 4:33 mark of the fourth quarter while Michael Tolomia was called for an unsportsmanlike foul at the 1:56 mark, after apparently hitting the head of Jeron Teng in a rebound play off a Garcia missed trey.
Prior to that, Teng converted a floater for a 68-66 lead, and extended the lead after splitting his free throws off the Tolomia flagrant foul.
FEU had several chances to tie the game but they missed four-three pointers in the last minute, including an airball off a wide open shot from Garcia, and another airball of the final bail out heave from Terrence Romeo.
“The boys played all their hearts in the last four or five minutes of the fourth quarter, that’s why we won,” commented La Salle head coach Juno Sauler.
On the other hand, FEU head coach Nash Racela said that he is still happy to enter the Final Four, crediting the big improvement of the Tamaraws from last season.
“I think we made an achievement, especially since at the start of the season nobody talked about us. We did not get the outcome we wanted for this game, but still, we made our target of reaching the Final Four. Losses happen, and in this league, if you’re not Ateneo or La Salle, it’s really hard to win,” he explained.
Torres, Teng, and starting point guard L.A. Revilla — the only remnant of the 2008 Green Archers team that last appeared in the finals — scored 15 points each.
“It’s a matter of putting my mind in the game and getting my teammates involved,” Revilla, who missed the 2010 season due to diabetes, said.
FEU, which started the season with a 7-0 win streak, were led by Cruz with 16 points. Romeo, named season most valuable player (MVP) after the elimination round, added 14 points and seven assists while 2010 MVP Garcia added 10 points and four assists.
La Salle will face the winner of Saturday’s Final Four rubber match between National University and University of Santo Tomas next Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
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