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| Jeron Teng came through for the Green Archers, scoring 16 points in their win over the UE Red Warriors. Photo by: Dennis Jerome Acosta/Dugout Philippines |
By Ivan Saldajeno
QUEZON CITY—La Salle held off a fourth quarter grind by UE to take a 71-64 win in their UAAP clash at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Sunday.
Up by as much as 17 early in the final period, the Green Archers found themselves on the brink of dropping the match as the Red Warriors went on a 12-2 run to cut the lead to four, 60-56, with 5:21 remaining.
But back-to-back baskets from Thomas Torres and Andrei Caracut stretched the gap to eight, 64-56, with 3:29 to go.
Renz Palma kept the game interesting by scoring on a three-point play to trim the La Salle lead to five, 64-59, with 3:20 left.
But the Archers pulled off another 6-2 rally to seal the deal.
Caracut and Jeron Teng each tallied 16 points for La Salle with the former helping the team’s cause in the payoff period by scoring 11 in the said quarter.
Nick Abanto led UE with 14 markers in a game where Bonbon Batiller was limited to only two markers.
Box Scores:
La Salle 71-Teng 16, Caracut 16, Muyang 11, Torres 8, Torralba 7, Perkins 6, Sargent 5, Navarro 2, Rivero 0, Tratter 0
UE 64-Abanto 14, De Leon 11, Charcos 8, Varilla 7, Palma 5, Penuela 5, Javier 4, Derige 3, Batiller 2, Gagate 2, Yu 2, Manalang 0, Sta. Ana 0
Quarterscores: 17-16, 32-26, 51-41, 71-64
Follow the writer on Twitter: @IvanSaldajeno
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