Friday at the Fil Oil Invitational

I was rushing out of the Media Room when I said, "Don't you want to watch the -Perpetual Help-La Salle game? This one is going to be a humdinger."

A few looked at me like, "What? Perpetual Help is in need of perpetual help."

By the half, I went up to the disbelievers and said, "Do you believe me now?" The Altas were up by 18 points 45-27. In case the others were bored out of their minds and have not been paying attention, UPHDS has been getting better. They've had a problem closing games out and i've been taking pictures of these guys. In the last few games, they've been focused. It's all business even in the locker room. They don't mind being overlooked at all.

The Green Archers were a bit jetlagged but that's hardly an excuse because prior to the game, some of them were talking about what they were going to be doing the following day. I guess they figured that The Altas poor record meant they'd walk all over them. But Boris Aldeguer's boys have been getting better with every game. Their win over CSLJ was no fluke.

And I'm not sure DLSU did their homework on UPHSD. They threw a three-two zone early on thinking they'd blank Chris Elorpe with Raffy Ynion on the bench. With the score close in the first quarter, I was surprised they gave up the zone and played man-to-man.

Unfortunately for them, they lost sight of Jefferson Vidal who scored 14 points in the second quarter with 12 of them coming from across the rainbow bridge of Asgard. He even nailed a fadeaway trey with a lunging Almond Vosotros upon him.

By then not only had Elorpe gotten into the act but so did Arnold Danganan. The ball was whipping around like crazy that I wonder what their assist total was for the game.The Altas didn't allow the flustered Green Archers in the game at all. Who played tough? Joel Tolentino. Yes, I know that Joshua Webb and Luigi de la Paz scored in double figures but they were sporadic at best. Tolentino, in his few minutes during the crucial third, was taking it to the Altas.

Despite the 71-56 loss, it doesn't say anything about the Green Archers since there are many factors to consider. On the other hand, it does say something about UPHSD. Last year, they went only as far as Ynion would take them. This year, the big man is not in shape and is losing minutes to Marlon Gomez and the other guys. Get in shape, man. Nevertheless, good job, Coach Boris.

La Salle's loss means that Ateneo takes the number one seed in Group A. The Archers play the Red Lions next weekend.

The game between the Adamson Falcons and San Sebastian was similar except that the Falcons didn't put up a fight. I thought that the officials should have thrown out Calvin Abueva for striking Jan Colina (in a wrestling like move when hitting the groin area). Abueva also took a shot at Jerick Cañada that was so obvious that it seemed so preposterous that he denied any wrong doing. But it worked as Adamson shied away from the physical game. When I left they were getting blown off the court by close to 20 points. End of story.