MANILA, Philippines – La Salle went to the high-scoring duo of Jeron Teng and Thomas Torres in the first half and then to its defense in the fourth quarter as it turned back University of the East, 72-64, to move up to solo third place with a 5-4 record in the 78th UAAP men’s basketball tournament at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Wednesday.
Teng and Torres unloaded 14 points apiece as the Archers built a 41-30 lead at the break and then made key stops in the stretch when the Warriors came roaring back to cut their deficit to just five at the end of the third quarter to seal the win.
Teng finished with a game-high 20 points while Torres had 15.
It was a victory that pushed La Salle from joint third with arch-rival Ateneo (4-4) to solo hold of it.
"Hard-fought game," said La Salle coach Juno Sauler.
The Warriors fell to 3-6.
After playing sluggish in the first half, UE fought back and outscored La Salle in the third canto, 20-14, to go into the final period trailing by just five.
It was the Warriors' last hurrah though as the Archers shackled the former with their defense to preserve the win.
While Teng and Torres took care of the scoring, Larry Muyang, Prince Rivero and Jason Perkins did the rest as the frontline troika combined for 24 points and 32 of La Salle's 54 rebounds.
The scores:
La Salle 72 – Teng 20, Torres 15, Muyang 9, Rivero 8, Torralba 8, Perkins 7, Sargent 3, Langston 2, Navarro 0
UE 64 – Palma 14, Javier 14, Batiller 9, P. Varilla 8, Manalang 6, Derige 6, Charcos 5, J. Varilla 2, de Leon 0, Abanto 0, Gonzales 0, Gagate 0, Yu 0, Penuela 0
Quarterscores: 19-16; 41-30; 55-50; 72-64