Jeron Teng’s late-game heroics power La Salle to FilOil quarters

TENG

Tied with 6.5 ticks to play in regulation, Jeron Teng hit the game-winning layup to lead the DLSU Green Archers past the UST Growling Tigers, 84-82, to advance in the 2015 Filoil Preseason games quarters held at the Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan on Saturday.

The Green Archers proved their strong inside game during the first quarter. They were able to hit most of their inside shots thanks to the stable playmaking from their guards Thomas Torres and Andrei Caracut. In addition, Abu Tratter added some needed inside presence to secure the lead in the first quarter. Tratter was productive enough to give the Archers inside scoring, as they played without marquee bigs like Prince Rivero and Arnold Van Opstal. The Green Archers ended the first ten minutes of action up by a point, 20-19.

The second period featured the same theme as the Green Archers got most of their points from the paint while their España-based opponents hit mostly outside shots. Jeron Teng led the Green-and-White to a 9-0 run that gave them a 30-27 point lead in the 4-minute mark. However, the Growling Tigers scratched their way back slowly and even took back the lead by buckets from Ed Daquioag. In the dying moments of the first half, Tratter was then sent to the line in the dying seconds of the quarter and he split his charities to slice UST’s lead, 40-42 heading into the break.

The first six minutes of the third quarter showcased a shooting exhibition between the two teams as outside shots from Torres and Caracut were going in while shots from UST’s Louie Vigil and Kent Lao lit up the Tigers’ offense. The remainder of the third period showed a determined UST defense that gave DLSU only one basket by Torres with 1:20 to go while the Tigers used a 7-2 run to tie the game at 57 apiece.

Fielding in their useful three-guard lineup of Torres, Go and Caracut in the third, La Salle went firing from the perimeter to begin the final frame. The Archers small five also held UST to 6 points in the first six minutes of the quarter. This helped the Lasallians build an 11-point separation, its biggest lead of the game with a little over 3 minutes to play.

Unfortunately for the Green Archers, the Growling Tigers refused to give this game to the Archers as they trimmed La Salle’s double-digit edge in less than two minutes left in the game. A 3-point shot by Torres established some breathing room for the Green Archers but was quickly responded by Mario Bonleon’s own trey. Torres and Daquioag would then exchange charity hits on the ensuing possessions. On the next play, Jason Perkins was fouled and made two from the charity line to give DLSU a three point lead. A good play off the timeout gave UST a game-tying triple by Daquioag to tie things up at 82.

Entering the dying seconds and in crunch time, Torres and Sheriff exchanged costly turnovers that could have given their squad the potential lead-giving basket. With no timeouts remaining, La Salle went to Jeron Teng who drove past the Tigers defense en route to the cold-blooded layup that gave them the lead.

Using an 8-man lineup throughout the match, coach Juno Sauler’s squad ended up the elimination phase with a 6-2 record on the game-winning shot by Teng. “It was not designed because we didn’t have any timeout but I guess they knew they wanted to get it to Jeron as he made a good read, no one helped, so he was open for the lay-up.” said coach Juno.
Thomas Torres led the DLSU Green Archers with 26 points and 9 rebounds while Jason Perkins grabbed 18 boards along with his 14 points.

Ed Daquioag led the UST Growling Tigers with 20 points and 8 rebounds and finished 4-4 in the preseason group stage.
The DLSU Green Archers will face the University of Perpetual Help Atlas for the Filoil Flying V Hanes Preseason Premier Cup quarterfinals on June 10, Wednesday 5pm at the Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan.

Article written in collaboration with Vic Sebastian 

gonzales_jan@yahoo.com'

JC Gonzales

Sports-lover and a big Spurs fan. Co-founder of this organization and has been covering DLSU games since 2011.

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gonzales_jan@yahoo.com'

JC Gonzales

Sports-lover and a big Spurs fan. Co-founder of this organization and has been covering DLSU games since 2011.