Archers nip Maroons

Prized rookie recruit Jeron Teng proved to be as good as advertised as he made the go-ahead three-point play that pushed the La Salle Green Archers past the University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons, 73-68, in the 75th UAAP basketball tournament yesterday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Teng, the son of former PBA player Alvin Teng and the younger brother of current University of Sto. Tomas star Jeric, scored on a drive off a nice feed by LA Revilla while getting fouled in the process with just 27.3 seconds left in the game that put them back on top, 69-68. He made the subsequent bonus free-throw for a 70-68 lead.

Teng’s heroics made up for his three missed free-throws on their previous offensive, which led to a fadeaway jumper by UP’s Alvin Padilla that put the Maroons ahead, 68-67, with 44.7 ticks remaining.

UP trailed by as many as 15 points, 40-55, but crawled back into the game behind the outstanding debut of former Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu guard Henry Asilum, who scored 12 points and sparked a 15-2 run that bridged the third and fourth periods.

The win kept La Salle’s win streak against UP intact as the Maroons’ last win over the Archers was way back in Aug. 22, 2009. Torres finished with 16 points to lead La Salle while Revilla and Teng each had 15.  Correspondent Jonas Panerio