DLSU Wins in Dubai, Scorches Ateneo

Photo by Mike Malata, ABS-CBN News (source)

According to various reports, the De La Salle Green Archers were able to hold on for the win against their arch-rivals, the Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles, in an exhibition game held in Dubai, last Friday, April 15, at the Al Ahli Sports Club in Al Ghusais, Dubai.

With the tagline "Down the Wire," the game supposedly began as the exact opposite, as reports from ArcherPride had the Archers nursing a large first quarter lead. By the end of the first half though, Ateneo had managed to get to within four points, 34-30.

With their largest lead at 12 points, the Eagles began aggressively attacking the defense of the green-shirts (the blue side of the story) or the refs decided to start making the game more interesting (the green side of the story), as the zebras whistled La Salle for 13 fouls, to just three for Ateneo in the quarter. Despite this though, La Salle still led, 50-44, after three periods. In the end, DLSU got the win, 62-58.

Unfortunately, the final score is still in doubt, but we do know that La Salle was able to maintain its stranglehold on the lead. As you can see below, the unofficial box score has it at 61-58, La Salle, but the actual summation of the scores has it at 63-58. Chris Soler of Inboundpass.com tweeted the score as 62-58, and this seems to be the accepted number.

Sam Marata and Joshua Webb of the Archers did not make the trip, while Ateneo played without Greg Slaughter (in addition to the four players who are currently not with the summer team).

Kiefer Ravena scored just 6 points in his first collegiate game against La Salle, and tweeted after the game, "Lack luster [sic] performance by number 15"

Quoth ABS-CBN News:

"Without a trace of jetlag, La Salle opened the game with a 16-3 run in the first 6 minutes of the game and ended the first quarter with a 10-point advantage over Ateneo, 21-11.
The ensuing second quarter saw an exchange of baskets from both teams but La Salle still managed to take control of the game and had a 4-point advantage, 34-30, at the close of first half.

Finding their shooting range, Ateneo went full throttle after the half time break and briefly enjoyed the driver’s seat via a 3-point shot by Bacon Austria which gave the Blue Eagles a 1-point advantage, 41-40, with 3:30 left in the third.

After the first deadlock at 44-all, Yutien Andrada and Almond Vosotros initiated a 6-0 run that gave back the lead to the Green Archers, 50-44, going into the final quarter.
Kirk Long’s drive to the basket with 5:42 left in the fourth quarter put the match into another deadlock at 54-all but the Blue Eagles went cold going into the final minutes of the game as Vosotros, the Green Archer who hails from Albay, answered with 6 consecutive points."

Hopefully news outlets will write a more detailed account of the game so that we have a better idea of both teams performed.

Unofficial box scores (courtesy of user 1983 on ArcherPride):

Box scores courtesy of the Phil. Star:

DLSU 62: Vosotros 14, Torres 9, Mendoza 9, Atkins 9, Dela Paz 5, Revilla 4, Villanueva 3, Andrada 3, Van Opstal 2, Tampus 2, Gotladera 2

Ateneo 58: Salva 25, Monfort 7, Ravena 6, Tiongson 5, Austria 4, Chua 4, Gonzaga 3, Long 2, Erram 2