De La Salle got routed once again, getting victimized by Far Eastern University, 51-65, on July 18 in UAAP men’s basketball at the Araneta Coliseum.
The Green Archers had spurts of brilliance but they were mere trickles as they encountered major scoring droughts throughout the match. This also marks the worst start of the team in the Franz Pumaren era.
For the second straight game, the Archers only made a quarter of their shots, making 23% from the field. This became more imminent when they found it hard to make short range attempts, botching several fastbreak tries for only three transition points.
On the upside, the De La Salle crew fought in the rebound department, grabbing 42 rebounds, winning in the offensive glass, 15 to FEU’s 13. They were also better from the stripe, going 19/25. Another consolation is that the Archers played with more desire and hustle especially in the first half.
James Mangahas led the pack with eight points, shooting 3/9 at the field, while hauling six rebounds. Another significant contributor was Bader Malabes with seven and seven.
The two spent the most time on the court, logging in 25 and 24 minutes respectively. The only other Archer who played more than 20 minutes is Hyram Bagatsing.
Although there were dry spells in the first half, the green and white squad went colder than Antarctica in the second, as they converted only five field goals in the last 17 minutes of the match.
The last two baskets in the third quarter were more than four minutes apart and there was a time when they went blank for more than three minutes as the Tamaraws went on an 8-0 rampage for a 17-point bubble, 47-30. This later bubbled to 20, 61-41, from two Ryan Roose Garcia freethrows, 3:26 in the fourth.
The common theme observed by the winning coaches on the Archers is that the team is still trying to learn the system and no one should count them out. There is no where else to go but up as they face winless University of the Philippines on July 23 at the PhilSports Arena.
A sign that it would be a long day for the Lasallian faithful was when the N. Reyes-based squad scored ten straight to start the contest with a 10-2 tally. The Archers quickly recovered to momentarily take the lead via a Sam Marata three-pointer, 16-14, 9:33 of the second.
Credit goes to their stinging pressure defense as the Far Eastern backcourt reserves got rattled from the fullcourt press.
FEU then went into a 22-8 rampage highlighted by a 12-0 run and a 10-0 rally as it enjoyed its highest lead in the first 20 minutes, 36-22.
Mark Barroca topscored with 15 points despite playing only 19 minutes due to foul trouble. Garcia had 12 markers and five boards.
Reil Cervantes came up with a double-double with 11 and 13 rebounds as JR Cawaling finished with ten points.
The Tamaraws swatted away six DLSU shots with Aldrech Ramos accounting for three. They also only had 13 turnovers, while scoring 12 fastbreak points.
Boxscores:
Far Eastern 65 – Barroca 15, Garcia 12, Cervantes 11, Cawaling 10, Ramos 8, Noundou 4, Tanuan 2, Caluag 2, Manalo 1, Vinluan 0, Sanga 0, Knuttel 0, Excimiano 0.
De La Salle 51 – Mangahas 8, Malabes 7, Marata 6, Barua 6, Bringas 5, Tolentino 4, Bagatsing 4, Atkins 4, Ferdinand 3, Webb 2, Villanueva 2, Mendoza 0, Co 0, Banal 0.
Quarters: 14-12, 36-24, 51-37, 65-51.