by Franco Rimando II
The game against the UE Warriors last night reminds me of a movie I once saw during my teens on how a car thief could steal a car within a minute and be gone without a trace. Despite winning most of the quarters and posting a 10-point game high lead at one point, the heavily favored Green Archers suffered a numbing defeat against the UE Warriors, and in a fashion reminiscent of the movie, the Warriors secured the victory and built a sizeable lead in dying seconds of the match.
The Archers led at the close of the 1st half by 2 points on the back of stellar performances from Kevin Quiambaio and Schonny Winston, as the two combined for 21 points out of the Archers’ total of 36 pts in the 1st half. At the start of the 2nd half, the Archers were hot off the break as Schonny fueled the Archer’s offense scoring the team’s 1st 7 points. The Archers led by as many as 10 points at the start, but a series of lapses in defense and slow ball rotation on the offensive end saw the lead cut down to 5points by the end of the 3rd period.
In the 4th quarter, a series of quality possession with our big men dominating the paint saw the lead grow once again to 7 points. However, the slow transition from our 2-2-1 full court defense to our half court 2-3 zone defense created defensive gaps that the UE warriors took advantage to tie the game with 4 minutes left in the last period. A series of lead changes then occurred until the last minute of the 4th period where the Warriors suddenly grabbed the momentum to build a slim 4 points lead. Archer Cyrus Austria had the chance to cut the lead to 1 after attempting a 3 point basket from the wing, but Warrior forward Luis Villegas of UE blocked the attempt to kill any chance of a comeback.
The score eventually ended with a 7 point spread at 74 – 81. Schonny Winston ended with a game high 26 points, but the game MVP award went to Kyle Paranada of UE as he finished with 20pts and 6 assts.
The loss put us in a 3-way tie with UE and Adamson for the 4th-6th place in the league. A win would have allowed us to share the lead at 3-1 with UP, Ateneo and NU. The Archers next opponent are the FEU Tamaraws (0-4) on Saturday Oct 15 at 430pm at the MOA Arena.
Animo La Salle!
