Archers bag Davao title
De La Salle University withstood a late Adamson surge, fueled by Jerom Lastimosa, to edge the Falcons, 8279, in the final of the 86th Araw Ng Dabaw men’s basketball invitationals at the Davao City Recreational Center last Saturday. The Archers finished the six-team, four-day tournament with a 4-0 record and claimed their first championship under new coach Topex Robinson. But it wasn’t easy turning back defending Araw Ng Dabaw ruler Adamson as La Salle blew a 12-point lead in the third quarter and the Falcons knotted the count, 77-all, with 3:58 left. Rookie Jonnel Policarpio scored on a putback and Kevin Quiambao sank his fifth triple to ice it down the stretch. The Archers committed four turnovers in the final quarter where Lastimosa shot 12 of his 15 points but missed his last four attempts.
“We’re still in the process of learning to play together through challenging times,” said Robinson. “We need to work on our free throws and end-game decisions.” For the competition, La Salle shot a lowly 56.3 percent from the line but made up for it by knocking down 121 field goals, including 42 triples, while giving up 106. The Archers averaged 20.8 assists, indicating an uptick in their passing efficiency. Quiambao was named tournament MVP after averaging 19.5 points. Against Adamson, he was La Salle’s only double figure scorer with 28 points. Point guard Evan Nelle dished out 7.3 assists an outing.
La Salle started the competition with a 7769 win over Lyceum with Quiambao hitting 15 points, Mark Nonoy and Francis Escandor 12 each and Rayven Cortez 11. John Barba shot 20 and Gyle Montano 15 for the Pirates. Then, the Archers upset Blanca’s Golden Knights, 87-81, despite the presence of PBA imports Kent Salado, Rey Suerte and Ato Ular and 6-9 University of Cebu foreign student athlete Tosh Sesay of Sierra Leone. Ular fired 22 points, Sesay 20, Salado 14 and Suerte 10 but couldn’t hold back the Archers who were led by Quiambao with 24 points, six rebounds and three assists. Policarpio chipped in 14, Mark Nonoy 12, Bright Nwankwo eight and Michael Phillips seven.
La Salle went on to down FEU, 76-64, with CJ Austria erupting for 20 points, Nelle 14 and Quiambao and Escandor 11 apiece. LJ Gonzales paced the Tamaraws with 20 points, three rebounds and eight assists. The final against Adamson was climactic. Lastimosa engineered a 9-0 blast that tied the score in the payoff period. With four seconds left, Nonoy deliberately missed his second free throw and Lastimosa’s midcourt heave rimmed out at the buzzer. The Falcons outscored La Salle, 15-11, in the final quarter as the Archers coughed up only four field goals, three from beyond the arc with Nelle, Joaqui Manuel and Quiambao delivering. Joem Sabandal finished with 16 points, Lastimosa 15 and Fil-Am Matthew Montebon 10.