Revenge for NU, DLSU

By Jonas Terrado - Manila Bulletin - August 8, 2008

Not this time around.

Defending champion La Salle and National University made sure they would not be swept by University of the East and University of the Philippines, respectively, by pulling off big wins yesterday in the UAAP basketball tournament at the Araneta Coliseum.

With JV Casio knocking down 25 points and grabbing eight rebounds, the Archers got back at the Warriors, 70-61, while the Bulldogs trounced the Fighting Maroons, 72-59.

It was sweet revenge for both the Archers and Bulldogs.

The Bulldogs relied on veteran guard Jonathan Jahnke and rookie point guard Jerome Tungcul to notch their second straight win after dropping their first six games.

Actually, NU’s win was a fitting sequel to their stunning win over the fancied Far Eastern University.
With Casio and center Rico Maierhofer joining forces in a telling 12-0 run, the Archers broke a 38-38 count early in the third which was enough to tilt the tide in their favor.

The win came five days after the Green Archers’ five-game winning streak was snapped by the Warriors, 68-62.

I think it’s a very good sign for us, we were able to regroup and bounce back and it will help us down the stretch," said DLSU coach Franz Pumaren.

Maierhofer finished with 11 points and six rebounds while James Mangahas and Peejay Barua made nine points apiece as the Archers grabbed solo second second at 6-2.

After Casio buried a trey at the 5:09 mark of the third, Mangahas and Barua hit a layup each before Maierhofer uncorked five points to grab a 50-38 advantage.

The closest the Warriors could come was at 53-46 at the start of the fourth period as Casio drilled six points in a 11-2 blast to stretch their lead to 64-48.

"They (UE) were still aggressive and doing the same kind of play but I think the boys were really focused after the injuries of Simon (Atkins) and Marco (Batricevic)," said Pumaren.

Marcy Arellano led the Red Warriors with 13 points, his best production of the season, while Pari Llagas and Raffy Reyes tallied 11 and 10 points, respectively.

James Martinez, who made 19 points in their first encounter, was held to only five points while suffering a double black-eye after wearing a wrong short during the first quarter. He eventually got to don the correct uniform before returning to action in the second period.

Jahnke, playing his last year with NU, matched his career-high with 21 points and added four rebounds while Tungcul came off the bench to contribute five markers and dished out six assists in 28 minutes.