By Jonas Terrado - Manila Bulletin - July 13, 2008
De La SalleUniversity and University of Santo Tomas methodically cut down separate rivals yesterday to bounce back mightily in the UAAP basketball tournament at the PhilSports Arena.
The Archers, still smarting from a 73-79 loss to archrival Ateneo last weekend, vented their irse on the Far Eastern University Tamaraws, 73-62, while the undermanned Growling Tigers made mincemeat of the University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons, 94-75.
The Archers and the Tigers improved to 1-1, the same record now held by the Tamaraws and the Fighting Maroons.
The Green Archers trailed, 29-37, early in the third third quarter but finally gained their shooting touch, hitting six triples from there to prevent the Tamaraws from scoring a second straight win.
"We really executed well," La Salle coach Franz Pumaren said. "But there is still process of knowing each since most of the players were injured during the preseason."
JV Casio went 7-of-10 from the field, three of them caming from the three-point arch. The fifth year standout also had eight rebounds and three steals in 28 minutes of play.
Rico Maierhofer tallied a double-double of 11 points and 17 rebounds on top of three blocks.
A triple by Casio and James Mangahas erased a 54-54 deadlock to grab the lead for good, 60-54, with 5:12 to go.
After the Tamaraws rallied to within a point, 59-60, the Archers responded with a quick 8-0 blast to pull away anew before Casio made five straight points to complete a 13-3 La Salle windup.
"It was a JV Casio show," Pumaren said. "FEU just froze, he had the burst of speed despite being double and triple teamed."
Mac Baracael led FEU with 14 points while JR Cawaling and Mark Barroca added nine points each.
In the first game, reigning Most Valuable Player (MV) Jervy Cruz, Dylan Ababou, and Francis Allera led the UST onslaught but it was rookie Jeric Fortuna who sparked the Growling Tigers’ charge in the first half to help put the game away early.
Fortuna, a recruit from De La Salle-Zobel, fired a perfect 3-for-3 from the three-point area to score 10 points in the first quarter where UST erased a 9-17 deficit to take a 26-21 first quarter lead. He finished with 11 points.
Ababou led UST with 20 points on 7-for-11 shooting while Cruz added 15 points and five rebounds. Mark Canlas and Allera added 11 apiece.
Although Pido Jarencio was pleased with the win, he voiced concern on several of his injured players – Cruz, Khasim Mirza, who appeared in school uniform because of a flu, and Allen Maliksi.
"May mga 2-3 players kaming injured," Jarencio said. "Si Jervy hindi pa 100 percent pero kahit papaano nakapag-contribute pa din siya sa team."
Ababou exploded for 12 points in the first 20 minutes while Allera and Cruz chipped in nine and eight, respectively, to grab a commanding 61-43 halftime mark.
UST took its biggest lead at 27 points, 75-48, in the third quarter as Cruz and Ababou starred in a 14-5 splurge.
The scores:
First Game
UST 94 - Ababou 20, Cruz 15, Fortuna 11, Canlas 11, Allera 11, Cuan 9, Fenequito 6, Camus 6, Bautista 3, Taylor 2, Wong 0, Vargas 0, Afuang 0, Gile 0
UP 75 - Sison 20, Pajela 9,Fortu 8, Agbayani 8, Sorongon 6, Marfori 5, Gamboa 5, De Asis 5, Reyes 4, Co 3, Astorga 2, Lopez 0, Dela Victoria 0, Maniego 0, Hipolito 0, Braganza 0
Quarters: 26-21, 61-43, 81-58, 94-75.
Second Game
DLSU 73 - Casio 29, Maierhofer 11, Barua 9, Malabes 7, Atkins 5, Walsham 4, Mangahas 4, Webb 2, Villanueva 2, Revilla 0, Bagatsing 0, Ferdinand 0.
FEU 62 - Baracael 14, Cawaling 9, Barroca 9, Cervantes 7, Ramos 7, Fernandez 7, Adolfo 3, Kave 2, Alisbo 2, Knuttel 2, Sanga 0.
Quarters: 18-17, 29-32, 50-47, 73-62.
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