Archers slay Cobras, grab 1-0 lead in final

With the stakes a lot higher, the La Salle Green Archers made sure to keep their distance from the Southwestern University (SWU) Cobras as they put down the upstarts from Cebu early to come away with a 64-54 win in Game One of the best-of-three finals series of the 2013 Philippine Collegiate Champions League yesterday at the Arena in San Juan City.
The reigning UAAP champions got ambushed by the boys from the south in their encounter in the semifinal round, 58-68. With that loss square in their minds, the Archers got off to a 13-2 start and never looked back.
“Last time, we really couldn’t get things going. But today, in the first three quarters, we were able to get the flow,”  La Salle coach Juno Sauler said.
The Archers can claim their second crown in this competition with a win in Game Two today.
UAAP Finals MVP Jeron Teng, a day after being named as the Collegiate Player of the Year in the Collegiate Basketball Awards, led the Archers with 18 points, six rebounds and five assists. Thomas Torres added 15, 12 of which came in the first half, while big man Norbert Torres chipped in 10 markers.
La Salle last won the PCCL crown back in 2007 when they were led by current PBA players JVee Casio, Rico Maierhoffer and TY Tang.
Cameroonian import Landry Sanjo led the Cebuanos with 16 points while Cesafi Mythical Five member Monbert Arong added 11 but made just four of his 13 attempts. Cesafi MVP Mark Jayven Tallo was shackled all-game long and managed just six markers.
“The boys missed open shots,” SWU coach Yayoy Alcoseba said. “We had some defensive lapses. But we feel good going into game 2.”
The writing was on the wall early as La Salle got off to a 21-8 lead after the opening canto, an advantage that they pushed to 34-21 at halftime off a five-point binge by Thomas Torres.
Teng caught fire in the third, where he tallied 11 points  that helped La Salle to a huge 54-32 lead heading to the final period.
The Cobras tried to make a game out of it with a 15-2 blast that trimmed the deficit to nine, 52-61, with 3:14 remaining but Torres doused the fire with a three-point play with a little over a minute left in the game. /with a report from the Inquirer