La Salle averts upset; NU shocks UST

De La Salle University flirted with disaster before booking a scary 74-72 win over Far Eastern University (FEU) in Season 88 University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) men’s basketball tournament on Wednesday at the Quadricentennial Pavilion inside the University of Santo Tomas (UST) campus.

In the second game, National University sent UST crashing, posting a 76-69 win for its third straight victory and a share of lead with idle Ateneo de Manila University.

Jake Figueroa took over in the final canto, firing eight of his 22 points, including a big three-pointer in the final 38.2 seconds to give the Bulldogs a 73-69 lead en route to the masterful victory.

Akowe, who flirted with a 20-20 performance in his first two games, was held to dismal five points and eight rebounds against the same school where he won a Most Valuable Player award in the junior ranks.

Meanwhile, after leading by as many as 14 points, the Green Archers found themselves in trouble as the Tamaraws stormed back until Jorick Bautista found himself open for a baseline layup with seven seconds left.

But Bautista botched what could have been a game-tying layup, allowing La Salle to burn precious seconds before sealing the heart-stopping victory that buried the pain of their 84-93 loss to the Growling Tigers over the weekend.

“Of course, coming off a loss you really want to win,” said La Sale assistant coach Caloy Garcia after posting their second victory in three games.

“We had a part in the game where we’re playing really, really well but in the UAAP, you cannot say that you’re gonna have an easy win. FEU came back in the fourth and we just have to figure out our struggles in the fourth quarter.”

La Salle has yet to come up with a convincing win. In their first game against Adamson University, the Green Archers also had to go through the winner before escaping with a victory.