Atkins helps La Salle boost Final Four bid

Simon Atkins helped boost La Salle's Final Four drive when he led the Green Archers' to a stunning 80-66 victory over the league-leading Far Eastern University Tamaraws on Saturday in the 73rd UAAP men's basketball wars.

Atkins, one of the few veterans in La Salle's rookie-laden squad, took charge in the Archers' fourth-quarter breakaway completing a win that solidified their hold of the fourth spot (7-4). A former La Salle Zobel standout, Atkins buried 10 of his 19 points in the final canto to lead the Archers' comeback from an eight-point deficit. "I didn't want to let the team down," said Atkins, after being named as the Accel-FilOil UAAP Press Corps Player of the Week. "Even if I got injured, I still wanted to play and fortunately I had a good game," said Atkins, who played with a cut above his right eyebrow. La Salle's 5-foot-11 shooting guard needed several stitches on his left eyebrow after receiving an inadvertent elbow from FEU star RR Garcia in the second quarter. It was also a big rebound for the Archers, who headed into the game embarrassed by a lopsided 74-57 loss against rival Ateneo a week earlier. "Coach Dindo (Pumaren) really challenged us that if we want to bounce back from that loss, we can bounce back strong by beating FEU, the No. 1 team in the UAAP," said Atkins. Atkins defeated Ateneo's Ryan Buenafe who posted a double-double in leading the Blue Eagles to their 12th straight Final Four appearance last Sunday, for the weekly award. FEU, the first team to claim a Final Four berth, still leads the eight-school field with a 9-2 record, followed by Ateneo (9-3) and Adamson (8-4). – JVP, GMANews.TV