STREAK BUSTED
Hungry La Salle halts NU winning run at 108
National University has been stripped of its invincibility by the same team that dealt its last taste of defeat almost a decade ago.
De La Salle University waited a long time to experience the sweetness of winning over the Lady Bulldogs as it hammered a 61-57 overtime victory in Season 85 University Athletic Association of the Philippines women’s basketball tournament yesterday at the University of Santo Tomas Quadricentennial Pavilion. It was such a special win. Aside from spoiling the Lady Bulldogs bid to go straight into the best-of-three finals after stringing 12 straight victories, the Lady Archers also halted their 108-game winning streak that started in 2014.
The last time the Lady Bulldogs lost was in Game 3 of Season 76 best-of-three finals series on 5 October 2013 — a 61-69 decision at the hands of the Lady
Archers.
La Salle coach Cholo Villanueva commended his players for a truly great — and historic — performance.
“Finally, a great performance from my players,” Villanueva, who took over from Tyrone Bautista in 2015, said.
“You need the perfect players, the perfect rotation to beat a perfect team. Of course, this wasn’t just eight players, they are 16 players — even 18 players in practices — that’s why these eight players did their job because these 18-strong players were doing their jobs in preparation for this game. So, it was a team effort.”
Meanwhile, UST beat University of the Philippines, 85-52, for a 10-3 card at the third spot.
UP fell to a 5-8 mark.
La Salle almost had the game in the bag in regulation, holding a 49-46 lead with 10.5 seconds left after a split at the stripe by Lee Sario.
Mikka Cacho forced the extra five minutes with a booming triple as time expired.
But in overtime, La Salle refused to be denied.
Sario drained a trey followed by two free throws from guard Charmine Torres that gave La Salle a 57-52 edge with 1:23 left.
Camille Clarin responded with a three-pointer but Betina Binaohan got back at the other end.
My girls just wanted it more. I give them the credits today.
An ill-advised trey by Annick Edimo Tiky led to two free throws for Sario that put La Salle up, 61-55, with 43.4 seconds remaining.
Although Edimo Tiky was able to make it up with 23.2 seconds left by cleaning up a Cacho miss, La Salle showed that it wanted it more.
“My girls just wanted it more. I give them the credits today,” Villanueva, who was an assistant coach at Air21 in the Philippine Basketball Association the last time NU suffered a loss, said.
“They were the ones making the right decisions on defense.
They were the ones making the right decisions on offense. They just don’t want to let go of that ball in their hands every time in every possession. Every time they shoot their shot, they shoot it with confidence. So, credit goes to my girls for playing one heck of a game.”
NU remains at the top of the standings with a 12-1 mark and will have to go through the Final Four for the first time since 2014.
The Lady Bulldogs, however, will have a twice-to-beat advantage in the semis.
Niantcho Tchuido notched a double-double for La Salle with 14 points and 19 rebounds while Torres tallied 13 points, six rebounds, five assists, and two steals.
Sario and Biohan got 10 markers each.
“Credit to Coach Cholo, they really wanted the win. We had the snatch to win in overtime but we were not able to take advantage of it,” NU head coach Aris Dimaunahan said.
“It’s just sad that streaks are really bound to be broken and today it happened. The real challenge is how we can bounce back after this loss, how we can turn the tide after being beaten. We’ll see that tomorrow.”
Cacho led NU with 12 points and 15 rebounds while Angel Surada chipped in 11 points and nine rebounds.
La Salle was able to limit rookie Tin Cayabyab to seven points on 3-of-12 shooting, Camille Clarin also had seven points on a terrible 2-of-11 shooting while Ann Pingol had six markers.