MANILA, Philippines - "The Magician" Franz Pumaren just pulled out another rabbit from his hat.

Elevating the performance of La Salle's bench players, freshman Maui Villanueva finally displayed his wares, conniving with star shooter JV Casio to spearhead the De La Salle Green Archers to a 76-61 victory over the Adamson University Falcons July 24 at the Philsports Arena.

Hiking to solo second at 4-1, just half a game behind their archrival Blue Eagles who remain unscathed, the Green Archers banked on a blistering first half performance en route to their fourth straight win after dropping their first-game assignment against Ateneo.

Rejuvenated after their upset win over highly-seeded UE, the Falcons surged ahead 6-2 early on but Pumaren, sensing trouble early, injected Rico Maierhofer to the line-up. The lanky Puerto Galera native instantly responded with three successive inside baskets as the Archers stormed to an 18-11 lead.

Fresh from their own breakout games against UST and NU respectively, Bader Malabes and Peejay Barua again showcased their outside sniping sharpness in the second quarter with back-to-back triples as the Archers erected a double-digit lead, 24-13, that was padded going into halftime, 35-22.

The Falcons staged an uprising in the third period with a 13-4 blast to inch within four, 35-39, entering the five-minute mark but it was time for Villanueva's turn to shine, who scored two key baskets and joined efforts with JV Casio, who doused cold water to the Falcons' rally with a triple, to break the game open, 52-39.

Since then, La Salle managed to preserve its double-digit lead.

Villanueva finished with 12 points - his season-high - on a 6-of-7 shooting clip, while the ever-steady Casio led with 19.

Said Pumaren of the Japan-trained Villanueva, "He's a very smart player. He may be undersized for his position but he knows how to use his head," also relating that he is a prized find since other schools also had their sights on him.

Pumaren was wary of the Falcons after their pulling-off a shocker over his own brother's team, UE, but prepared well his team for the scenarios that could happen.

"We know Adamson is capable of beating any other school. I'm very glad that my team, most especially the bench players, are rising to the challenge. We were undersized but we took (Mike) Galinato's usual game away from him early. We made him bleed for his points, " said Pumaren of his former recruit, who had a one-year stint with the Archers before transferring to Adamson after undergoing residency.

THE SCORES:

DLSU 76 - Casio 19, Maierhofer 13, Villanueva 12, Malabes 10, Barua 10, Atkins 4, Mangahas 4, Walsham 2, Webb 2, Bagatsing 0, Batricevic 0, Lee 0, Revilla 0.

Adamson 61 - Agustin 12, Colina 12, Galinato 9, Gonzalgo 9, Alvarez 6, Canada 6, Santos 3, Nuyles 2, Yambot 2, Lozada 0, Olalia 0, Margallo 0, Gorospe 0

Quarter Scores: 18-11; 35-22; 52-41; 76-61