The De La Salle Green Archers will take on the University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers on Saturday, September 14, 2013.

La Salle, with a 9-4 win-loss slate, is coming off a nail-biting victory against National University on Sunday.

The Green Archers capitalised on their defense, limiting NU to 55 points, which averages 70.5 points coming into the game.

Meanwhile, the Growling Tigers, at 7-5, smooth-sailed past the University of the Philippines (UP) in their last outing.

Key Players

For La Salle: Jason Perkins, who is fresh from a double-double performance with 18 points and 10 rebounds against NU, and King Archer Jeron Teng, will have to put their wares on display to be able to overcome the España-based cagers.

For UST: With Jeric Teng still getting his rhythm going, Aljon Mariano, who is having an inconsistent performance this season, must replicate, if not surpass, his 18 and 10 tally against UP.

Karim Abdul needs to dominate the paint both in offense and defense. He must also be cautious of his fouls since La Salle has three legitimate threats in the post with Perkins, Norbert Torres, and Arnold Van Opstal.

X-Factors

For La Salle: Defense. In their wins, they limited their opponents to 67.33 points, on average, and the trend implies that the lower the opponents score, the better the chances of winning.

While in their losses, the opposition scored an average of 73.5 points.

Keeping the scores low and containing UST's shooters will give the Green Archers a better chance of winning the game.

For UST: Jeric Teng. UST was never the same team when Teng went down with an injury against NU.

True enough, they lost that game as the team was not able to cope up with the absence of the King Tiger.

Moreover, inconsistencies from key players led to an equally inconsistent squad.

Teng is the most consistent player in the UST squad before his injury. If he will be able to come up with a solid game on Saturday, the Thomasians may end up taking the W.

The Situation

Both of the teams are gunning for the win, with La Salle aiming to clinch a twice-to-beat slot, at first or second place.

The worst case scenario for the Taft-based side is to end up in fourth place, should they lose this game.

UST or Ateneo still has the chance of obtaining a 9-5 record.

If that happens, either UST or Ateneo may play La Salle for positioning, for the third and fourth spot.

Simply put, in case of a tie among teams who are jockeying for position in the top four spot after the eliminations, they will play each other for positioning.

The Verdict

Considering all the circumstances and each team's recent form, La Salle will have the upper hand in this match.

The Green Archers are more organised in the offensive and defensive end, as opposed to the Growling Tigers, whose players tend to lose focus on the offensive end.

UST players have been observed to take a lot of ill-advised shots, especially from three-point territory, to the prejudice of the team. While La Salle is more composed and patient in running their offensive sets.

Size and depth remains a problem for UST with some of their starters, particularly the big men, registering about 40 minutes or more in some games.

Schedule and Live Online Streaming

Sept 14, 2013 - 4 pm (6 pm Australian EST)

LINK

Box Score:

LINK