La Salle outlasts UST in overtime to win UAAP Season 76 basketball crown

The De La Salle Green Archers survived an epic overtime match against University of Santo Tomas, 71-69, to win the UAAP Season 76 basketball title on Saturday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Almond Vosotros hit the go-ahead basket with 19 seconds left to give the Green Archers their first title since 2007, completing their comeback after losing Game One of the best-of-three series.

La Salle coach Juno Sauler, who took over a few weeks before the start of the season, won the title in his first UAAP head coaching stint.



UST had a chance to close out the game in regulation, but a poorly-run play resulted in an Aljon Mariano miss at the buzzer.

Both teams struggled for points in the extra period, before Jeric Teng hit a turnaround jumper to give the Growling Tigers a 69-67 edge.

His brother, La Salle star Jeron Teng, drove hard on the other end and was fouled by Mariano. Teng split his free throws, before Mariano threw the ball away after getting the rebound.

That set up Vosotros’ jumper to put La Salle ahead for good.

With UST out of timeouts, Karim Abdul missed a hurried shot at the other end, and LA Revilla grabbed the rebound. The pint-sized guard again split his free throws, giving the Growling Tigers one final shot to tie or win the game.

But Abdul’s three-point attempt at the buzzer failed to find the mark, bringing the UAAP basketball title back to Taft.

Jeron Teng won finals Most Valuable Player honors after finishing with 25 points in the deciding game, including 12 in a grueling fourth quarter comeback.

La Salle climbed back from a 15-point deficit in the third period after Teng strapped his team on his back in the fourth despite fighting a case of cramps as he hit big shot after big shot.

Abdul and Jeric Teng scored 26 and 25 points, respectively, to lead UST. The Growling Tigers finished runners-up for the second consecutive year, after losing to Ateneo in the finals last year.

source: interaksyon.com

UST coach Jarencio rips into refs after Game One loss to Ateneo

After University of Santo Tomas fell to Ateneo in Game One of the UAAP finals, Growling Tigers coach Pido Jarencio was less than enthused about the quality of refereeing.

“Ako diretsa ako makipag-usap. Hindi naman patas yung tawagan. Sobra naman yun,” he told reporters the SM Mall of Asia Arena after the game. “Umakyat pa nga ako sa kanila. Sabi ko maging fair tayo sa mga decision natin.”

Jarencio charged from the bench toward the referees gave them an earful after the final buzzer. He made it clear, though, that his team was not planning on making a formal protest, but just wanted to be heard.

“Basta ako umakyat ako, bumunot ako ng referee at sinabi ko sa kanila, ‘Physical game ito. Let the players decide the game, not the referees.’”

He rued the way the game was called in the third quarter, when UST center Karim Abdul got into foul trouble amidst a whopping 17-0 run by the Blue Eagles that turned the tide for the four-time defending champions. He also insisted that the referees should’ve given Jeric Teng three free throws on their final possession after it was the officials themselves who blew the whistle on the play.

“I’m not against Ateneo. Pero bakit ganun? Unfair naman sa ‘min,” Jarencio ranted. “Dahil UST lang kami ganun ang tawagan?”

“Kailangan ba mag-e-english ako para paburan ako? Ganoon ba labanan dito? Nasa Pilipinas tayo, dapat tayong mga Pilipino mahalin niyang mga iyan.”

Jarencio added that he felt sorry for the UST gallery that trooped to the arena only to see them fall in this manner.

“Naawa ako sa mga estudyante, babayad 250, pilila madaling araw. Ala-una nang madaling araw nandyan na para mapanood lang kami, mapanood ang Ateneo-UST game,” he said. “Tapos gaganunin lang? Dedeprive kami ng fair officiating.”

The coach is aware that he might be facing disciplinary actions for his rant, but isn’t worried about it at the moment.

“Bahala sila kung ano desisyon na ibibigay nila sa akin. Ako, sinasabi ko lang yung totoo.”

source: interaksyon.com