Defending champion De La Salle University will be marching to the grand finals of the AcadArena University Alliance Cup anew after surviving a nail-biting 2-1 decision over Far Eastern University, Sunday afternoon.
The Viridis Arcus were down by as much as four points, 7-11, heading into the crucial juncture of the winner-take-all Game Three. But despite their bad economic position, they managed to pull all the stops needed to survive the wrath of the iTamaraws.
Xavi8k (Jett) got things going for La Salle in the momentum-shifting 19th round after instantly taking down Tr1X (Jett) with Bladestorm.
FEU’s Batghost (Sova) answered back with a double kill on TAN (Sova) and ACERVUS (Raze) with his Phantom, making it a four-against-three in favor of the iTamaraws.
But Xavi8k’s Bladestorm was in full display once more. It took down Miko (Reyna) and Batghost, respectively, who were trying to enter A site.
Worship (Sage) gunned down Xavi8k with 1:04 remaining in the clock, but suseJ (Omen) came to the rescue. He killed Admiral (Omen) and Worship, respectively, and defused the Spike to completely turn things around from the Taft-based squad.
Through that momentous 19th round win, La Salle trimmed the deficit to just three. It eventually took the lead at 12-11 all thanks to successive clutch plays from Susej.
An ACERVUS defuse on the 24th round capped off the 6-0 blitz by Viridis Arcus, which punched their ticket to the grand finals.
Xavi spearheaded La Salle with 25 kills and four assists against 17 deaths. Susej finished with a 23-20-7 line, while Acervus had 12 kills, 19 assists, and seven deaths all in Game Three.
Meanwhile, Miko was the main man for FEU with 25 kills and four assists against 16 deaths. Tr1X added 19-17-13 in the loss.
La Salle opened the series with guns blazing, dominating FEU through a 13-4 outcome to draw first blood. But the gamers from Morayta did not give up just yet. They evened out the series after a 13-8 Game Two win.
Before the FEU semifinal match, La Salle first dispatched the Technological University of the Philippines in the UAC quarterfinals, 2-1, last April 18.
The grand finals between the Viridis Arcus and Ateneo de Manila University LG Esports on Sunday.
