Ralph Samson | FCF

There’s no stopping a strong start despite the ebbs and flow of a championship game.

This was what University of Santo Tomas proved in Game One of the UAAP men’s basketball finals on Wednesday, as they grabbed the opener, 73-72, against De La Salle University at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The 18-time champions of this tournament overcame a four-point third quarter deficit through the clutch shooting of the graduating Jeric Teng, and elite wingman Kevin Ferrer, and ultimately, the final defensive gem of Cameroonian center Karim Abdul.

Ferrer paced the Growling Tigers with 20 points off five-of-eight three-point shooting, while Teng had 17 points and seven rebounds and Abdul with a monster game of 19 points, 12 rebounds, and two blocks.

“Pwedeng sila, pwedeng kami,” said a jovial Pido Jarencio, who is now steering his squad for its third finals appearance in a career spanning eight seasons.

“Ibang klaseng istorya ito…even nga yung match talaga,” he remarked.

The Tigers had their boosters on from the get-go, erecting a 23-6 lead in the first quarter off three treys from Ferrer.

Undaunted, the Archers patiently chased their opponents, as they went low-post with inside points from Arnold Van Opstal and outside shots from Almond Vosotros to tie the game in the second quarter at 25.

After being scoreless in the first quarter, Teng fired nine points in the second quarter, including six consecutive points off one-on-one jumpers in the four minute mark. The Tigers settled for a 36-31 lead in the first half.

La Salle then unleashed a 9-0 blast to start the third quarter and finally grabbed the lead, 40-38, off a floater by Vosotros. It was a nip-and-tuck affair since then as the Green Archers ended the quarter leading, 54-50.

With just 47 seconds in the fourth quarter, Teng scored five points off shake-and-bake jumpers. Abdul then continued the Tigers’ run, scoring four points off mid-range jumpers before issuing a dime to an open jumper by Jamil Sheriff for a 65-59 lead with four minutes to go.

The Archers then went dry from the foul line as Norbert and Thomas Torres missed three freebies. La Salle though kept in pace with a three-pointer by Jason Perkins, two free throws by Van Opstal, and split charities from Jeron Teng for a 68-70 deficit coming in the final minute.

This was when Ferrer, who focused on defense after his offensive blast in the first quarter, sank a top-of-the-key trey off a crossover in front of the younger Teng’s defense for a 73-69 lead.

La Salle mounted a last ditch effort in the final 40 seconds. First was Teng’s putback off his own miss for an and-one play to put the score at 73-72.

It was the last basket off the game as, despite Norbert Torres’ steal off Ferrer’s inbound pass, the Green Archers failed to score on two game winners, with a Vosotros miss from beyond the arc and Abdul’s swiping of LA Revilla’s putback attempt.

“There’s no substitute for experience…breaks of the game went our way,” the older Teng said, adding that this season, they have been “more relaxed” in the endgame.

For his part, La Salle head coach Juno Sauler, who is coaching in his first season, attributed their loss to UST’s superior outside shooting.

“They just shot better in all departments, so it’s gonna be hard to win if the opponent shoots better in all aspects,” he explained.

“It’s not really their championship experience but they’ve been playing well in the past three games. It was all breaks of the game in the last possession… we have to make sure they don’t get that in the next game,” he added.

Sauler also commended Ferrer’s hot shooting. “We’re okay with Jeric Teng. He shot 36 percent from the field but it was Ferrer who killed us [as] he shot 62 percent from three points.”

Vosotros led the way for La Salle with 20 points and Perkins added 11 points and 11 boards.

With the loss, La Salle snapped its nine-game win streak — the longest by any team this season.

Game two will be played on Saturday, October 5, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, where UST will attempt to unfurl its 19th championship banner, and become the winningest men’s basketball team in the UAAP and the only fourth-seeded team to have won the trophy.

Ken Koo | FCF