LA Salle survived a pesky University of Santo Tomas side, 84-82, to make the quarterfinals of the Filoil Flying V Hanes Premier Cup on Saturday at The Arena in San Juan.
Thomas Torres led the Green Archers with 26 points, anchored on 5-of-10 shooting from beyond the arc, while rookie Andrei Caracut added 17.
Jason Perkins finished with a double-double of 14 points and 18 rebounds, while star player Jeron Teng added 12 for the Taft-base school, which shoved the playoffs door on the Tigers.
The Archers enter the quarterfinals with a 6-2 slate. UST bowed out with an even 4-4 card.
“It’s tough because UST is a tough team,” said soft spoken La Salle coach Juno Sauler.
UST erased an 11-point deficit behind a 9-0 run anchored by Embons Bonleon to move within 74-76, before the Tigers tied the game at 82-all in the final 10.2 seconds.
The Tigers even got a chance to steal the win after Torres committed a turnover in La Salle’s next play.
But point guard Jan Sheriff also committed an inbound error with 6.5 second left, paving the way for Teng to score the winning basket.
Ed Daquioag finished with 20 points for UST, while Kent Lao, who fouled out halfway in the fourth, had 14 markers.
Louie Vigil added 13 and Bonleon chipped in 10 for the Tigers.
The scores
La Salle (84) – Torres 26, Caracut 17, Perkins 14, Teng 12, Tratter 9, Gob 4, Go 2, Pascual 0.
UST (82) - Daquioag 20, Lao 14, Vigil 13, Bonleon 10, Sheriff 8, Lee 8, Huang 3, Kakonda 2, Faundo 2, Arana 2, Caunan 0, Garrido 0.
Quarterscores: 20-19; 40-42; 57-57; 84-82.
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