Warriors storm back, hand Archers another heartbreaker

MANILA, Philippines – University of the East pounced on another fourth-quarter meltdown of La Salle to prevail, 85-83, for its first back-to-back triumph in the UAAP Season 76 men's basketball at the MOA Arena Saturday.

The Warriors wiped out a 10-point deficit in the last 8:30 minutes, turning to Ralf Olivares' booming trey and Dan Alberto's clutch free throws to deliver the coup de grace against the faltering Archers.

UE improved to an even 3-3 win-loss mark, following up its 72-68 victory over Ateneo last Wednesday. On the other hand, La Salle dropped to 2-3, for the second straight game blowing a double-digit margin in the fourth and letting the W slip away again, just like its 79-83 overtime loss to Far Eastern a week back.

"Naiwasan namin yung kidlat (We survived the lightning brought by La Salle)," said UE coach Boycie Zamar. "The players have to really play above pressure, above injury, above egos, above personal problems.  We have to be mature, determined, disciplined, especially on defense."

The Warriors weren't any close to what Zamar was describing early in the fourth as La Salle looked poise to blow them to pieces, 68-58. That sort of woke the Recto-based players up as Roi Sumang, Charles Mammie and Chris Javier took charge and brought them back into the game.

Olivares drew a foul from Vosotros and gamely cashed in on his charities to put UE within two at 79-81, 46.8 seconds left.  The Warriors forced La Salle to lose possession on the inbounds play and took the opportunity to set up Olivares for a triple atop of the key to wrest the lead, 82-79, 42.3 ticks to go.

A missed offensive by La Salle led to a trip to the foul line for Alberto, who sank both to extend UE's lead to four with 28.5 seconds left. Luigi dela Paz knocked down a long jumper to cut UE's lead, then he sent Olivares to the stripe. Olivares split his charities for a two-point buffer with 12.6 seconds left then Thomas Torres failed to make the game-tying heave for DLSU.

"Down by 10, it's not about the Xs and Os anymore. It's all about H - heart. But actually, it wouldn't have come to that if the boys displayed mental toughness early on," said Zamar.

With this win, UE already matched the three wins it picked up in placing seventh overall last season.

Sumang topscored with 21 points with seven rebounds and six assists while Mammie put up 19 markers and 16 boards and Javier added 16. Alberto and Olivares finished with nine and eight, respectively.

Vosotros rifled in 26 points, spiked by four triples while Jeron Teng added 13, but was scoreless in the second half.