Of Archers heart, will, pain, gain

La Salle forces do-or-die vs Ateneo

MANILA, Philippines — Never underestimate the heart of a champion.

Fueled by the basest of instincts in the face of looming doom, the embattled La Salle Green Archers clawed at rival Ateneo Blue Eagles with all their strength and wiped out a 21-point deficit in a scintillating 92-83 Game Two victory last night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Ricci Rivero, down and in near tears after getting slapped with his fourth foul in the second quarter, typified DLSU’s recovery and amazing fightback, joining forces with Andrei Caracut and Ben Mbala in a massive second-half assault that quashed Ateneo’s seeming march to the championship while keeping their back-to-back title drive alive.

“It’s more of wanting it more, we played with heart in the second half,” said DLSU assistant Miggy Solitaria, whose charges thus set up a winner-take-all Game Three on Sunday.

“We stuck together and even though we saw some of the players down and struggling, we didn’t give up, we kept believing,” said Mbala, who bounced back from an eight-point performance in their 70-76 Game One loss with 20 markers, 16 rebounds and four blocks.

Rivero finished with 18 markers, making eight of them in the third period, where DLSU overpowered AdMU, 26-8, to turn a nine-point deficit at the break into a nine-point lead, 68-59.

Sophomore Rivero had to be consoled by his brother Prince after being forced to ride the bench due to four early fouls.

“My brother told me that wasn’t me in the first half. I had to play the usual way, loose and relax. I was praying to God the entire time I was in the bench and that was God playing for me in the second half,” said Rivero.

Caracut made up for his scoreless stint last Saturday and came through with 13, 10 of them made during their second-half turnaround.

Thirdy Ravena led AdMU with 20 markers.

“We got La Salle on their heels but you know, La Salle is a strong team. They had their run and we weren’t able to stop their run starting end of second. One of the problems we had there was we didn’t play as well defensively and our offense, especially in the third, where we scored only eight, we didn’t execute,” said Ateneo assistant Sandy Arespacochaga.

“We got away from the things that we did successfully, both on offense and defense. And when La Salle had that run, they had momentum, and it was very hard for us to refocus on that particular portion. Like every game, every situation, we always tell our players to learn and this is no exception,” he added.

Kib Montalbo added nine markers while Leonardo Santillan and Rashleigh Rivero chipped in eight points for the Archers, who fell, 15-32, after the first 10 minutes and 42-51 at the half but took control at 68-59 heading to the last quarter.

Aaron Black backed Ravena with 15 points while Anton Asistio, Isaac Go and Ma. Nieto combined for 34 markers for the Eagles.