LA SALLE boosted its Final Four hopes with a defense that allowed the Green Archers to dominate Far Eastern University, 63-56, on Sunday in the UAAP seniors basketball tournament at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Guard Almond Vosotros came up big for the Archers in the important victory that pulled them into a tie for fourth place once again with National University, both with 8-5 win-loss slates.
After bowing to National University last week due to the 32-point eruption of Bobby Ray Parks, the Green Archers limited Terrence Romeo and RR Garcia to a combined output of 36 points to capture the victory.
“First, I think that we were lucky that they are not a complete team… We knew for a fact that RR Garcia and Terrence Romeo will carry this team in terms of scoring and a lot of things so we just focused defensively on them,” said La Salle coach Gee Abanilla.
The Tamaraws, who played without suspended players Arvie Bringas and Mark Belo, slid to 9-4 in a tie for second with University of Santo Tomas.
Vosotros scored 21 points while making three three-pointers. His trey off the glass put the Archers ahead 56-49 with two minutes and 34 seconds left in the fourth period.
The Archers close the elimination round against Adamson on Thursday, needing a win to solidify their Final Four hopes and, possibly, a twice-to-beat incentive.
After leading by two points at the half, the Archers opened the third period with a 9-0 run to break the game open.
Romeo had a game-high 26 points but Garcia was limited to only 10 points in the game.
The scores:
DLSU (63) – Vosotros 21, Teng 10, Revilla 8, Andrada 7, Van Opstal 6, N. Torres 6, T. Torres 3, Mendoza 2, Webb 0, Manguera 0, Tampus 0.
FEU (56) – Romeo 26, Garcia 10, Mendoza 8, Escoto 5, Cruz 3, Tolomia 2, Hargrove 2, Sentcheu 0, Pogoy 0, M. Bringas 0.
Quarterscores: 11-12; 26-24; 42-33; 63-56.
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