Henry Liao

Rookie Jeron Alvin *Teng currently leads the De La Salle University Green Archers in point production in the 75th University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) men’s basketball tournament.

The 6-2 swingman is averaging 13.7 points in six games for the fifth-place Green Archers (3-3), who are priming up for their final assignment in the first round of the double-round competitions against the fourth-ranking National University Bulldogs on Saturday, August 18, at the *Araneta Coliseum.

Jeron, the younger brother of the University of Santo Tomas’ fourth-year forward-guard Jeric Teng, has scored in double digits in five of the six games – 15 vs. University of the Philippines (73-68), 16 vs. University of the East (67-59), 13 vs. Ateneo de Manila University (61-71), 17 vs. UST (82-84 2 OT – Jeric had three threes for nine points) and 15 vs. Adamson University (56-52). *He was held to six markers in the Green Archers’ 48-46 setback to Far Eastern University last July 22 in the first of a couple of two-point losses by the Taft Avenue-based school so far.

In his last two appearances for La Salle, Jeron posted a double-double with 17 points and a dozen rebounds against UST and 15 and 10 against Adamson.

In addition to Teng, only veteran guard LA (Luis Alfonso) Revilla is scoring in twin digits for the Archers. Revilla is hitting at a 12.2-point clip despite sitting it out against the Tamaraws and being held scoreless by the Falcons following his departure late in the first half of their game with an ankle injury.

This early, the 18-year-old Jeron is a cinch to follow in the footsteps of brother Jeric (2009) and romp away with the UAAP Rookie of the Year award.

If there is a sore thumb in the offensive game of the muscle-bound son of former Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) strongman Alvin Teng, it is his free-throw accuracy.

Then again, the Green Archers, as a team, have been horrendous in that area for the past three seasons, squandering winning opportunities against FEU and UST this year with atrocious performances from the foul line. *In the come-from-behind victory over the Falcons, De La Salle went just 6-for-18 from the charity stripes, including 1-for-6 by Teng.

Overall, Jeron is a porous 19-for-41 (.463) from the free-throw line for the Green.

Ironically, Jeron was a decent free-throw shooter during his high school days at Xavier School. *In the Metro Manila Tiong Lian Basketball Association (MMTLBA), where he earned his spurs with three championships, three scoring titles and a league-record three Most Valuable Player awards during a distinguished four-year, 43-game stint with the Golden Stallions, Jeron *was a respectable .652 (251-for-385) from the charity stripes en route to a nifty 28.3-point career clip.

Additionally, in his 104-point game against Grace Christian College on January 5, 2011 for the only triple-figure score by a high schooler in Philippine basketball history, Jeron made 29 of his 34 freebies.

Inept free-throw shooting has been La Salle’s waterloo since 2010 and Teng’s own problems with the Archers mirror this embarrassing fact.

La Salle is hard-pressed to reach the Final Four under rookie coach Gee Abanilla, who seemingly is still finding his way to come up with a solid rotation. *The constant experimentation has seen some veterans being sparingly utilized from one game to another, if not entirely benched. *

While the team’s defense has been decent, it is so deficient on the offensive end. Teng, Revilla and Norbert Torres (9.5 ppg) are scoring in double figures, but there is no consistent go-to guy in the mold of a JV Casio.

Torres has improved much from last season. *The 6-6 Filipino-Canadian has learned to post up and bulldoze his way around the paint. *However, when faced against taller defenders like Ateneo’s 7-foot Greg Slaughter and UST’s 6-8 Karim Abdul, Torres has gone back to his old habit of taking jumpers from out of his range.

The Archers, who even had to labor just to get past patsies University of the Philippines, University of the East and Adamson University, badly need to defeat underachieving National University to keep abreast of the Bulldogs at the No. 4 spot in the eight-team standings.

A loss to NU, on the other hand, means that DLSU will have to overcome a substantial two-game disadvantage going into its seven second-round assignments just to secure the fourth semifinal berth.

To reach the Final Four, a team will likely need at least eight victories overall. So far, UST (5-1, vs. Adamson August 19), Ateneo (5-1, vs. FEU August 18) and FEU (5-1, vs. ADMU August 18) have the inside track to the Final Four race.