Archers hit mark, reach QF

MANILA, Philippines - Pint-size guard LA Revilla punctured the hoops in the stretch and his teammates made big defensive stops as the Green Archers turned back rival Ateneo, 66-61, to catch the last bus to the quarterfinals of the Filoil Flying V Hanes Pre-season Premier Cup yesterday at The Arena in San Juan.

Returning to the team after getting sidelined for two years by diabetes and hyperthyroidism, the 5-foot-7 Revilla pumped in 10 of his 12 points in the fourth period, including two dagger baskets in the last 1:09, to lead DLSU to a 4-3 card in Group A of elims play.

La Salle’s triumph also foiled Ateneo’s bid to finish No. 1 in the bracket.

The Eagles finished in a triple tie with San Beda and San Sebastian with identical 5-2 slates. After applying the quotient system to break the tie, the Lions assumed top position, the Eagles second and the Stags third.

DLSU tied National U at fourth but took the quarters berth via the win-over-the-other rule.

“Our offense struggled after that big shot by (Ateneo’s Bacon) Austria (a triple to end the third). Fortunately, we recovered and we made some big defensive stops down the stretch,” said DLSU coach Dindo Pumaren, whose wards went ahead by as many as 12 points (32-20) early in the game.

Revilla scored on a layup off a pick-and-roll play with Jovet Mendoza to give DLSU a 63-61 edge with 1:09 left after which the Archers forced AdMU to a missed offensive on the other side. Revilla then picked the leather off Joseph Marata’s flubbed triple, completing his heroics with a short stab to put them up by four, 65-61, with 15.8 seconds left.

Simon Atkins then intercepted Kirk Long’s kickout pass to Ravena, drew a foul and split his free throws to secure the win.

But the triumph came at a price for DLSU as it lost starting forward Norbert Torres to injury (right elbow) on a rebound battle with Frank Golla early in the fourth.

Pumaren said their game plan was to put the cuffs on Ravena, Long and Nico Salva as well as behemoth Greg Slaughter. Salva went away with 18 markers but Ravena, Long and Slaughter were held down to 10, seven and two, respectively.

San Beda overwhelmed University of Santo Tomas, 85-72, to cap the elims with three successive victories going into the quarters.

The Red Lions stormed to an early 25-16 bulge and never let up against the overmatched Tigers, posting leads as high as 23, at 54-31, on a basket by Ola Adeogun in the third.

With the romp, the NCAA champions gained outright entry into the Last 8 while slamming the door on the Growling Tigers (3-4).

Garvo Lanete and Nigerian Adeogun pumped in 12 points and three rebounds apiece for San Beda.

Jeric Fortuna fired 22 points, highlighted by four triples, while Jeric Teng added 19 for the Tigers, whose bid was hurt by the zero production and seven errors of Cameroonian starting center Karim Abdul.

Nate Matute fired seven triples in a 26-point effort as also-run Jose Rizal University (JRU) edged quarterfinal-bound Adamson, 84-81, in the first game.

The Bombers closed their elims stint with an even 4-4 card in Group B while the Falcons finished at 6-2. Adamson, which drew 24 markers from Lester Alvarez and a 20-point, 10-rebound output from Eric Camson, will go into the quarters as the No. 2 team in Group B behind unbeaten Far Eastern (8-0).