MANILA, Philippines-La Salle survived a furious fourth-quarter rally to edge Far Eastern University, 74-72, and return to the win column of the UAAP Season 88 men’s basketball tournament on Wednesday at UST Quadricentennial Pavilion.
The Green Archers dodged a late-game bullet when FEU’s Jorick Bautista missed a wide-open layup with seven seconds left that could have tied the game. La Salle then ran down the clock to seal the victory.
Coming off a tough loss to University of Santo Tomas, La Salle improved to 2-1 for solo fourth place ahead of their rivalry clash with Ateneo on Sunday. ‘Coming off a loss, you really want to win. We had stretches where we played really well, but in the UAAP, you can’t expect easy wins. FEU came back strong,’ said La Salle deputy coach Caloy Garcia.
La Salle led by as many as 13 points heading into the fourth, 64-51, but saw its cushion quickly evaporate. FEU stormed back behind Mo Konateh, Janrey Pasaol, Bautista, and Jedric Daa, cutting the deficit to one, 69-70, with 2:25 left. But Mason Amos and Doy Dungo answered with clutch baskets to push La Salle ahead, 74-69. Bautista buried a triple to make it 72-74 with under a minute to play, before missing the game-tying attempt in the final seconds.
Dungo, a former UST Tiger Cub, led La Salle with 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting in place of the injured Kean Baclaan (ankle sprain).?’I just stepped up because we were short on players. I stayed composed and ready,’ said Dungo.
Amos added 14 points, four assists, and three rebounds, while Jacob Cortez also had 14 points. EJ Gollena contributed 13 points and eight rebounds. Mike Phillips, though limited to six points, hauled down 13 boards and dished out nine assists.
FEU dropped to 0-3, joining University of the East at the bottom of the standings. Pasaol paced the Tamaraws with 25 points, while Konateh had 14 points and 10 rebounds. Mongcopa added 13 points and Bautista finished with 10.
FEU faces Adamson next on Sunday at Mall of Asia Arena.