They turned to an unlikely source for baskets in Andrei Caracut as La Salle got back at Ateneo, 92-83, to tie their best-of-three title series at 1-all in Game 2 of the 80th University Athletic Association of the Philippines men’s basketball tournament last night at the Araneta Coliseum.
Caracut, a third-year veteran, banged in 13 points, including seven crucial points that provided fuel for La Salle’s successful effort. He joined Ricci Rivero during a big run in the third period, knocking down a three-pointer and three-point play that put La Salle to within 54-56, with 4:03 left.
Then, Santi Santillan scored on a putback that allowed La Salle to force the first of two deadlocks at 56-all, with 3:02 left in the period.
After that, MVP Ben Mbala, who was in foul trouble with teammates Rivero, Santillan and Abu Tratter, scored past Isaac Go to move La Salle ahead, 60-58.
The Rivero brothers, Prince and Ricci, then came in with baskets that widened their edge, 64-59.
Caracut’s two charities with 8:11 left then saw La Salle hanging on to seven-point edge, 70-63, for most of the last period. Ateneo never recovered from here.
“In the first half, gigil ‘yung mga players. So we realized that in half of the second quarter, we needed to contain them because almost all of their points were coming from transition. Nakinig naman ang mga players. They really did well in containing them, lalo na si Matt Nieto. Buti na lang, it went our way,” said La Salle assistant coach Miggy Solitaria.
The Archers and Eagles go at it again for one final time on Sunday at 4 p.m. with the title on the line.
Despite being in foul trouble, Mbala led La Salle with 20 points and 16 rebounds, while Thirdy Ravena tallied 20 for Ateneo.
Mbala, who had two fouls in the first period, got his second in the last 3:13 of the period off Ravena, who handed Ateneo a 24-9 spread
Meanwhile, Trixie Antiquiera showed the way for the National University Lady Bulldogs as they smothered the University of the East Lady Warriors, 89-61, in Game 1 of the women’s finals.
Antiquiera sank 19 of her 30 points in the first half, including four treys that allowed the Lady Bulldogs to take control of the game.
NU will try to seize its fourth straight title and 64th consecutive win on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Mbala was named UAAP MVP for the second straight year pulling away.
La Salle’s main man, led by a big margin after after averaging 26 points on 52 percent shooting, to go with 13.1 rebounds, 2.5 blocks, 1.3 assists, and 1.3 steals. He went on to take home the most cash winnings.
Along with the MVP title, he was also recognized as the PSBankable Player of the Season with a cash prize of P100,000, as well as the Shell V-Power Most Efficient Player of the Season with P20,000 worth of gasoline.
Games Sunday
(Araneta Coliseum)
11 a.m. NU vs UE (Women
Game 2)
4 p.m. La Salle vs Ateneo
(Men Game 3)
