Archers vent ire on Tams, stay close to unscathed Eagles

MANILA, Philippines — La Salle quickly picked itself up from a monumental slip-up against rival Ateneo by grinding out a 75-73 victory over Far Eastern U last night in the UAAP Season 80 men’s basketball tournament at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The Green Archers turned to Ricci Rivero, Ben Mbala, Jollo Go and Andrei Caracut for the coup de grace against the hard-fighting Tams, who wiped out a 16-point deficit to make it a down-to-the-wire finish.

Rivero, who had 20 markers and five steals, knocked in the insurance foul shot then Caracut foiled FEU’s final offensive to seal La Salle’s rebound win from its 75-76 setback to the Eagles three days ago and a 6-2 record overall.

Mbala added 18 markers and 17 boards but more importantly issued a crucial assist that Go converted into a three-point basket for a 70-65 cushion with 4:26 left. Go shot five of his 14 in the payoff period, spiking his production with four triples.

“Muntik pa (Close call),” said DLSU assistant Miggy Solitaria, pinch-hitting again for coach Aldin Ayo in the post-game presscon.

“For the most part, the players stuck to the system, especially in the last few minutes,” he added.

FEU suffered back-to-back losses and slipped to 4-4.

Earlier, University of the Philippines snapped out of a three-game slump, repeating over winless Santo Tomas, 71-69.

Jun Manzo split his charities in the final 11 seconds then the Maroons watched Marvin Lee’s potential game-winning triple trickle in and out to pick up their fourth win in eighth outings and hand the Tigers their eighth consecutive setback.

Manzo, back after suffering an ankle injury in their previous outing, finished with 11 to backstop Jhan Jaboneta, who broke out with a team-high 12 laced by a perfect 4-for-4 from beyond the arc. Paul Desiderio, who fired the marginal trey in UP’s 74-73 thriller over UST in the first round, shot 10 plus five assists.

“This is just too difficult for us; we just wanted to get another win after the three losses and we needed something that can perk us up, make us believe again we can still do it,” said UP coach Bo Perasol after the Maroons swept UST in the elims for the first time since 2006.