La Salle trips FEU to keep hold of No. 4 spot

It has been an upset week in the 73rd UAAP men's basketball tournament as La Salle continued the trend by stunning league-leader Far Eastern University.

Playing with a cut above his right eyebrow, Simon Atkins erupted from downtown as the Green Archers pulled off a shock 80-66 upset of the Tamaraws on Saturday at the Araneta Coliseum. The veteran guard coming out of La Salle Zobel fired 19 points but none bigger than two of his three treys in the payoff period to lift the Taft-based squad past the perennial title contenders. With the victory, La Salle improved to a 7-4 record extending its lead over distant pursuers National University, University of Santo Tomas and University of the East for the No. 4 spot in the semis. The Archers gained a two-game lead over NU (4-6) and 2 1/2 on both UST and UE (4-7 each), which on Thursday surprised defending two-time champion Ateneo, 62-60, behind guard James Martinez' exploits. FEU, on the other hand, fell to 9-2 and its hold of first spot reduced to one game behind Ateneo and Adamson, which hold identical 8-3 slates. Both teams will go separate ways on Sunday when they collide at the Big Dome. It was redeeming win for the squad of coach Dindo Pumaren after they endured a crushing 74-57 setback at the expense of their hated rivals Ateneo on Sunday. "They showed character after that nightmare and I saw their A-game," said Pumaren. "In fact, right after that game against Ateneo, I knew we can bounce come back because they felt ashamed." Pumaren's squad trailed 52-44 in the third period and 57-54 entering the payoff period. It was all La Salle from there on as the Archers simply pointed their arrows towards the Tamaraws. A drive by FEU rookie Jarelan Tampus push the Tams up 58-57 about 40 seconds into the payoff period. Atkins, in La Salle's next play, drained a triple in a 5-0 exchange that made it 63-58 with barely eight minutes left. The Tams made a last ditch effort to turn things around but they could not find their shooting touch in the fourth, making just 2-of-12 in that stretch. As FEU struggled, La Salle was simply unstoppable and Atkins delivered the knockout blow by hitting another one from downtown with the shot clock winding down for a 77-66 spread with 1:55 to go. Atkins, who scored 10 in the fourth, added six rebounds and two assists in a game that saw him spent most of the second period on the bench after getting three to four stitches on his right eyebrow because of an inadvertent elbow from FEU guard RR Garcia at the 5:29 mark. "I just don't want to let them (teammates) down, it's just a cut," Atkins said. "Good thing, I played well because normally when a player gets injured, he tends to relax and I want to change that stereotype." Rookie Luigi Dela Paz had 12 points, six rebounds and four assists while Tampus added 10. Lanky center Yutien Andrada also contributed nine points, six rebounds and three blocks for La Salle, which beat FEU for the first time since the 2008 Final Four. Garcia, the frontrunner in the race for the coveted MVP award, made 18 points but went scoreless in the fourth quarter. Center Aldrech Ramos had 14 markers, five rebounds and blocked seven shots while freshman Terrence Romeo added 11 points, four rebounds and three assists. FEU grabbed a season-low 32 rebounds compared to 45 for La Salle, a rare scenario for a team that is considered one of tallest in the league with Ramos, Reil Cervantes and Pipo Noundou around. - JVP, GMANews.TV