La Salle, Ateneo Team Bs win in BBI caging

MANILA, Philippines – The De La Salle Green Archers Team B heaved a sigh of relief as Our Lady of Fatima’s Cas De Vera missed a potential game-winning 3-point shot as time expired to take a 65-63 win in the Men’s Under-25 Division of the sulit.ph Breakdown Basketball Invitationals at the Moro Lorenzo Sports Center.

OLFU was looking to take down a second consecutive UAAP-based squad after their stunning BBI debut last November 25 when they blitzed a Ricci Rivero-led UP squad, 82-72.

The OLFU Phoenix led by seven points, 47-40, after Chris Essomba hit a jumper, at the 2:06 mark of the third period, however, DLSU stormed back to come within two by quarter’s end. 

The Green Archers battled in a nip-and-tuck affair in the fourth period behind Gabe Capacio, Jordan Bartlett, Tyrus Hull and Kurt Lojera. 

Lojera gave DLSU a lead it would not surrender when he scored on a lay-up, 54-52, at the 6:39 mark. Capacio who led DLSU in their win over Manuel L. Quezon University the previous week, hit two pressure-packed free throws to give his side a 65-60 win with 14 ticks left. 

De Vera knocked down a triple three seconds later prompting DLSU to call for a time out. The Phoenix forced Capacio into an eight-second backcourt violation to get the ball one last time but De Vera muffed his chance to be a hero for Fatima. 

Capacio led DLSU with 14 points while Bartlett added 10 points.

De Vera top scored with 15 points for Fatima while teammate VJ Alarcon added 13. 

DLSU raised their BBI record to 2-1 while OLFU fell to 1-1.

In other Under-25 action, the Ateneo Blue Eagles’ Team B finally got a win in three tries following a 79-69 win over MLQU.

The match was a close on until Ateneo was able to put some distance from a 36-45 lead at the 6:16 mark of the third period. Former Blue Eaglet stars Jason Credo, RV Berjay, and Andre Flores presided over the late third quarter storm to give Ateneo some cushion heading into the fourth period.

Credo knocked down back-to-back treys to give Ateneo a 42-35 lead. Flores, the son of former FEU Tamaraw player and coach Bert Flores, scored nine points including a buzzer-beating three to end the third period while Berjay added four points for a 57-49 lead. Ateneo held off MLQU in the final 10 minutes of play.

RV Berjay led Ateneo with 20 points while Jawaun White added 19. Flores and Pat Maagdenberg added 11 and 10 markers, respectively. 

For the hard-luck MLQU, JM Gula top scored with 23 points and nine boards. Ryan Sual added 16 points while Cedric Zulueta contributed 11 points.