Despite the efforts of Gelo Alolino to steal the game late in the fourth quarter, the DLSU Green Archers staved off a late rally by the NU Bulldogs to take a 67-63 opening weekend win at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Jeron Teng led La Salle with 18 points, including a fadeaway bank shot with 23 seconds left to play to seal the victory. Teng, however, made just seven of his 18 field goal attempts in the game.
Rookie Green Archer Andrei Caracut was impressive in his debut as he scored 13 points, hit three three-pointers, and dished out three assists. Meanwhile, veteran Jason Perkins finished with 13 points and 12 rebounds, playing out of position at center for most of the contest due to La Salle’s lack of traditional big men.
Rookie Green Archer Andrei Caracut was impressive in his debut as he scored 13 points, hit three three-pointers, and dished out three assists. Photo by Ken Koo
Alolino and JJ Alejandro, two of the key members of last year’s team that won the UAAP title, led the charge for NU. The former finished with 16 points and six rebounds while the latter tallied 15 points off the bench. Alfred Aroga was limited by foul trouble to just nine points, but had 10 rebounds before fouling out late in regulation.
La Salle led comfortably for most of the contest after jumping out to a 10 point lead at the end of the first quarter and maintaining it up until halftime. The DLSU lead would balloon to 15 points by the midway point of the third period, but the gutsy Alejandro kept the Bulldogs afloat, scoring 13 of his 15 points in the late third period and early fourth quarter.
Despite Alejandro’s efforts, NU faced a nine point deficit with over three minutes left to play after veteran La Salle guard Thomas Torres split two free throws. However, NU’s Rev Diputado picked up back-to-back lay-ups off steals in the backcourt after Alfred Aroga split two free throws to trim the La Salle lead to five. Alolino then stepped in and hit a three-pointer off the dribble to bring the Bulldogs within two but missed the second of two free throws with one minute and 19 seconds left to leave them trailing by a point.
Aroga then fouled out after contesting a drive by Perkins and the Green Archers proceeded to seal the four point victory.
NU shot poorly from the field throughout the contest, making just 29 percent of its field goals compared to 39 percent for La Salle but they managed to close the gap with 19 offensive rebounds as opposed to just 10 for the Green Archers.
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Photos by Ken Koo
The scores:
DLSU 67: Teng 18, Caracut 13, Perkins 13, Rivero 11, Sargent 6, Torres 3, Tratter 3, Go 0, Langston 0
NU 63: Alolino 16, Alejandro 15, Aroga 9, Diputado 8, Javelona 4, Salim 4, Neypes 3, Javillonar 2, Morido 2, Abatayo 0, Celda 0, Rangel 0, Tansingco 0
Quarter scores: 16-6, 33-23, 51-40, 67-63
