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From Greenarcher.net

De La Salle Green Archers 87 - 89 Ateneo de Manila Blue Eagles

The bliss was short-lived, and the celebration was judged as premature. In another nail-biter between one of the most storied rivalries in UAAP history, Chris Tiu hit a go-ahead 3-pointer in the wanning seconds of regulation to win the game for the Blue Eagles, 89-87.

The Green Archers started the game slow and was absolutely sloppy on offense before Rico Maierhofer entered the game and sparked a bit of energy on both ends of the floor; but the Archers still found themselves down 15-9 late in the first quarter. The Archers then scored the next 12 points, courtesy of Bader Malabes and Cholo Villanueva, to take control of the game going into halftime.

As the third quarter started, the Taft-based squad threatened to break the game wide open as they built their lead by as much as 12 points in the quarter. The Eagles retaliated with the help of Yuri Escueta and the three-point line and cut the Archers’ lead to 1, 64-65, going into the fourth quarter.

In the final quarter, the basketball game turned into a seesaw battle as both teams refused to let up and constantly snatched the lead from one another time and time again; until time finally led to the game’s dramatic finish. Jv Casio proved once more his worth as one of the deadliest clutch players in the league by scoring 5 points in the final 2 minutes of the game, but missed the shot that mattered the most.

As the Blue Eagles led with a little over a minute remaining in regulation, Jv Casio drove to the rim and was fouled while making the basket to take the lead once more for the Archers, 87-86. After trading misses on the ensuing possessions, Yuri Escueta drove to the basket and kicked the ball out to a wide-open Chris Tiu for the game-winning 3-pointer.

JV Casio tried to tie the game with a fade-away shot from the top of the key, but the ball bounced off the rim. Rico Maierhofer acquired the offensive rebound and layed the ball back in the hoop, but the shot was waived off as videos showed that the ball was still in Maierhofer’s hands as time expired.

Rico Maierhofer led the Green Archers in scoring with a UAAP-career-high 24 points, followed by Cholo Villanueva who scored 18. TY Tang also contributed 15 points for the Green Archers. JV Casio, who is the Archers’ leading scorer with 15.2 points per game prior to this game, was scoreless throughout the game until he scored 5 points in the final 2 minutes of regulation on 1/14 FG shooting. The Green Archers also missed 15 free throws, which contributed to their unraveling.

The game had its share of expressing supreme passion for school pride as both sides experienced raging and uncontrollable emotions at times, which garnered various warnings, technical fouls, and unsportsmanlike fouls.

With the loss, the Green Archers fall into a tie with the Blue Eagles, losing their sole grip on the twice-to-beat advantage and currently share the position with their rivals.

The Green Archers will have to defeat the unbeaten Red Warriors on Thursday if they wish to keep their aspirations of clinching the twice-to-beat advantage alive.

dlsu, admu, lasalle, ateneo, uaap, results