The De La Salle University (DLSU) Green Archers narrowly escaped the University of the Philippines (UP) Fighting Maroons in an 82-79 overtime win in Group B action of the 2015 FilOil Flying V Premiere Cup, Friday evening at the FilOil Flying V Arena, San Juan City.
Rookie, Andrei Caracut displayed his all-around offensive game in the early minutes of the first quarter as he was able to locate Rivero and Muyang in prime scoring positions to put DLSU up 4-0. After an exchange of baskets by both teams, Jett Manuel managed to tie the game with a three pointer at 9-all. Then, with the game tied at 13, with 29.4 seconds remaining, an untimely foul by Thomas Torres led to two converted free throws by JR Gallarza to end the quarter with UP leading 15-13.
Jeron Teng equalized the game with a midrange jump shot to open the quarter but back-to-back baskets by Diego Dario gave the Fighting Maroons a four-point lead. Three minutes into the quarter and with UP up 24-17, Kib Montalbo left the game due after falling hard on his back in a rebounding scrum. Rivero was able to power his team back in scoring four points in an 8-2 rally to regain the lead at 30-28. However, during the 2:44 mark of the game, Kyles Lao fell as he was defending Renzo Navarro. Lao had to be escorted to the back and was stretchered out of the arena. DLSU held a 35-32 lead entering halftime.
The Green Archers went on a huge rally during the early parts of the third quarter led by the hot shooting of Andrei Caracut and the interior scoring of Prince Rivero. The DLSU lead extended to as high as eight in the closing minutes of the third. A basket by Jan Jaboneta coming from a steal, however, cut the DLSU lead to just six. Another injury scare occurred in the closing seconds of the third. Jeron Teng was trying to create for an open shot for a teammate, but landed awkwardly on his left ankle. Teng did not finish the game.
The Fighting Maroons went on a 10-0 spurt to regain the lead early in the fourth quarter. The Green Archers, then, slowly chipped away the UP lead capped off with a clutch three pointer by Caracut to tie the game at 70-all. Prince Rivero eventually gave DLSU the lead after spltiting his free throws. Jaboneta then scored on a putback with 34.1 remaining to regain the lead for UP. With 32.9 remaining, an untimely foul by Dave Moralde on Andrei Caracut gave DLSU a chance to win the game, but Caracut split his free throws to just tie the game. The game would go into overtime after the two teams failed to convert on potential game winners.
In the extra period, Henri Asilum shot poorly as he failed to convert on any of his shot attempts the led to DLSU going up by four points 79-75 with 1:56 remaning. A clutch three pointer by JR Gallarza was able to bring the lead down to a solitary margin. However, Caracut knocked down a clutch turnaround jumper to seal the game for the Green Team.
Prince Rivero posted a huge line with 25 points and 18 rebounds, while Andrei Caracut had 15 points on 3/8 shooting. Moreover, Caracut was aggressive in getting fouls as he had 12 free throw attempts. For the UP side, Jett Manuel led his team with 18 points in just 20 minutes of play. Paul Desiderio had 17 points and seven rebounds.
As a team, DLSU shot 44% from the field which is much higher compared to UP’s 33%. UP kept the game close by forcing 23 turnovers and converting them into 20 points.
The Scores:
DLSU (82) – Rivero 25, Caracut 15, Torralba 10, Muyang 10, Teng 10, Tratter 7, Go 2, Torres 2, Navarro 1, Pascual 0, Montalbo 0
UP (79) – Manuel 18, Desiderio 17, Gallarza 11, Jaboneta 8, Kone 6, Moralde 5, Asilum 4, Tekoudjou 2, Vito 2, Lao 2, Amar 0, Lim 0, Prado 0, Juruena 0, Harris 0.
| TEAM | 1ST | 2ND | 3RD | 4TH | OT |
| DLSU (B, 2-1) | 13 | 35 | 59 | 72 | 82 |
| UP (B, 1-2) | 15 | 32 | 53 | 72 | 79 |
