By NIKOLE JAVIER
De La Salle recovered late in the contest for a 77-72 victory over University of Santo Tomas on the last day of the UAAP Season 85 men’s basketball elimination round Wednesday, Nov. 30, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Evan Nelle proved to be reliable for the Green Archers after finishing with a season-high 25 points on top of a perfect 7-of-7 shooting from the free throw line including the last four with under 20 seconds left.
The Green Archers had to dig deep after being down for most parts of the game and put their persistence to the test in the final quarter, making necessary stops to hold off the Tigers and improve 7-7 in the standings for a possible playoff for the last Final Four berth if Ateneo beats Adamson in the second match which is being played as of press time.
La Salle crawled back from a nine-point deficit of 69-60 with 8:26 left in the contest before unleashing a 9-0 run to tie the game capped by Mark Nonoy off the line.
With 2:09 to go, Eco Laure committed a costly turnover for UST before Ben Phillips came up with a huge rebound off a Nelle miss which he dishes out to Jan Macalalag for a jumper to give La Salle its first lead of the game at 71-69.
From then on, the Archers fully regained their senses and unwrapped another much-needed 6-1 run to put themselves ahead by seven to pretty much seal the crucial victory.
“Well, it was a hard-fought ballgame. You know, we were missing players again. As I told the guys, it’s been a rough season for us. I don’t think with a complete roster. Maybe there’s always a reason for everything and we just have to keep playing, just gotta do our part,” said La Salle head coach Derrick Pumaren.
Royce Mantua paced the Growling Tigers with 17 points on a 5-of-7 shooting from beyond the arc which wasn’t enough to end their 12-game slide, finishing their campaign with a 1-13 record.
The Scores:
LA SALLE 77 -- Nelle 25, Cortez 13, Nonoy 10, B. Phillips 8, Macalalag 6, Austria 5, Estacio 3, Abadam 2, Buensalida 2, Manuel 2, Nwankwo 1, Winston 0.
UST 72 -- Mantua 17, Cabanero 16, Calimag 10, Faye 9, Pangilinan 5, Manalang 4, Laure 4, Manaytay 4, Lazarte 3, Duremdes 0, Garing 0, Escobido 0.
Quarters: 21-27, 37-42, 55-59, 77-72.