The La Salle Green Archers woke up in the second half and overhauled a huge deficit to send the reeling Ateneo Blue Eagles to their third loss in a row via an 82-73 decision in the UAAP men’s basketball tournament yesterday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
The Green Archers were down by 12 at the turn but revved up their offense in the next 20 minutes of play to outscore the Blue Eagles, 54-33, and keep the defending champions winless in this competition.
Almond Vosotros led La Salle with 19 points and nine rebounds while reserve big man Arnold Van Opstal had 18 points and eight boards.
It was La Salle’s first win over Ateneo in three years.
Ateneo, which missed ace guard Kiefer Ravena for the third game in a row, was led by the 27 of Chris Newsome while Juami Tiongson added 14.
The last time that Ateneo started the season with three straight losses was in 1997.
In the first game, the Far Eastern University (FEU) Tamaraws remained peerless as they took the solo lead in the standings after routing the University of the Philippines (UP) Fighting Maroons, 75-57.
The win propelled FEU to a 3-0 (win-loss) record, and a half game lead over the idle University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers, who are at 2-0.
Star guard Terrence Romeo continued to showcase his new and improved multi-faceted game as he had a double-double performance of 20 points and 12 rebounds.
Former league MVP RR Garcia had 15 markers as the duo continued their newfound cohesion this season.
The Tams broke the game wide open in the second canto as they unleashed a 14-0 run.