DLSU beats Talented FEU squad 64-61 in round 1 of UAAP Season 70
It was an ugly win, but a win nonetheless. DLSU’s vaunted defense showed up on the fourth quarter to seal the win for the DLSU Green Archers against the very talented and rookie laden FEU Tamarraws. Add to that the stellar play of the vets in the fourth to get the “W”. FEU jumped the gun on the Archers on the onset with their hustle and aggressiveness, this rattled the Archers enough that it whacked both their offense and defense in the first 3 Quarters.
Surprisingly it was the free throw shooting of the team in the fourth quarter that sealed the win for them. From what I heard from Ronnie Magsanoc, DLSU was shooting about 50% of its free throws for the first 2 games of the season. This was definitely an off night for DLSU as they missed a lot of point blank shots. Uncharacteristically Cholo, JV, TY and Rico’s offense were cold for the first 3 Quarters. Shots you would expect to be money in the bank were clanking and rolling off the ring. Of course we have to notice also that FEU’s Free Throw shooting also went cold in the fourth as they were splitting a lot of their charities.
DLSU’s FG% in the first half was a paltry 31% versus their season average of 43%. Of course we also have to mention that the two teams that DLSU went up against prior to FEU were generally weak, under skilled and inexperienced teams hence the 90pt average. PJ Barua stepped up for the Archers as he helped keep the game close while the vets warmed up their cold shooting hands.
Cawaling, Baracael and Sanga gave hell to the DLSU guards with their timely three’s and daredevil drives to the basket. Not to mention their pesky defense. These athletic big men made it difficult for the Archers to get their offense going as well as to setup their trapping defense.
DLSU was finally able to hold on to the lead in the 4th after Rico Maierhofer made a basket and TY committed a steal off Cawaling then made 1 free throw when he was fouled on the ensuing fastbreak. A three from Baracael with 10 sec remaining brought the Tamaraws to within 1. Cholo was then fouled on the inbound that shaved only 2 seconds off the clock. He canned both free throws to bring it back to three again. FEU was able to release a three that clanked off the ring then was able to recover the ball but ran out of time to heave another three which could have tied the game.
FEU is definitely a team to watch in Season 70 and in the succeeding seasons because of the talented Baracael, Sanga and Cawaling.
My Keys to the Win:
- Player Maturity - I felt that the Archers got rattled with the aggressiveness of FEU and the fact that they didn’t enjoy a lead that lasted more than 2 possessions till the fourth quarter. Hence them missing those shots and their defense not being able to keep in step with the Tamarraws. But once they got their composure they were able to slowly eat into the lead of FEU, gain it then eventually hold them at bay.
- A Champion Coach - I have to say it was a big factor that it was a Champion Coach going up against a Rookie Coach. Coach Franz didn’t look rattled the entire game, even when FEU was threatening to take the lead up to double digits. They say that basketball is a game of runs. In the end, its the coach with the most bag of tricks still remaining to be used that usually wins.
- Players stepping up - It was a 3rd stringer of DLSU that kept the lead manageable. PJ Barua contributed 11 points and 4 rebounds to the game, that’s 17% of the total output of the team. However it was Rico, Cholo and TY in the fourth that was the tipping point for the win. Big factor was them hitting their free throws in the fourth, where it really mattered!
This win by the Archers puts them toe-to-toe with the University of the East for the best record in Season 70. The eventual “King of the Hill” will be determined this Sunday when both teams meet at 4PM. Its going to be a fancy dinner again for the Pumaren clan as traditionally the losing brother will foot the bill.
Rico Maierhofer collars the rebound in the 3rd Q, finds himself open, runs out to the 3pt area and pops one from long distance. He must be averaging 1 3ptr per game right now. [Screen caps belong to Channel 23 and many thanks to their sponsors 
].
Rico pops one from the free throw mark, misses then tips it in.[Screen caps belong to Channel 23 and many thanks to their sponsors ]
Full game transcript can be found here
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