Rico Maierhofer and James Mangahas took charge under the boards as both powered the defending champion De La Salle Green Archers to an 81-61 demolition of the UP Fighting Maroons August 10 in the 71st University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) men's basketball tournament at the Philsports Arena.
    
Filling up the void which injured six-foot-six center Marko Batrivcevic left behind, the six-foot-four Maierhofer and the six-foot-three Mangahas pulled in crucial
rebounds to help the Green Archers climb to second spot with their 7-2 win-loss record.
 
Maierhofer, who now plays off the bench after coach Franz Pumaren made adjustments at the slot, notched a game-high 19 points and 13 rebounds, while the younger Mangahas, who was inserted to the starting five position, contributed 16 points and seven rebounds for the Taft-based dribblers.

JV Casio tallied 17 points and six assists for the Green Archers as they kept the  Maroons at the bottom heap of the standings (2-7).
 
Casio's drive with 3:08 left in the first period shattered 7-all deadlock, while Maierhofer banged in eight points on his attacks inside the lane  to  touch off a
pivotal 10-0 spurt.
 
"It's a good thing that the veteran, Rico, JV and James took over the game. Thats what took away the game of the UP Maroons, who played hard.  Rico is now in the second unit and is now helping guide the younger guys. Now the second unit has a leader," said La Salle coach Franz Pumaren.

The Green Archers never relinquished the upper hand after establishing a 19-9 spread at the end of the first quarter.

The Maroons still managed to stay in the thick of the fight in the second period, and stayed close, 30-34, at halftime off triples from Martin Reyes and Woody Co.

A triple from Maierhofer and Casio in the last 7:41 allowed La Salle to move ahead on a 10-3 run and take 42-33 cushion.

La Salle never looked in trouble in the final canto as Mangahas and PJ Barua combined for 16 points to lift the Green Archers to a 68-48 spread with 8:05 to go.

Martin Reyes showed the way for the Maroons with 21 points while Woody "Woodward" Co, who was held scoress in the final period, hit nine along with Jay Agbayani.

- Cesar Concio

 
>     The scores:
>
>     La Salle 81-- Maierhofer 19, Casio 17, Mangahas 16, Barua 10, Walsham 6, Villanueva 5, Revilla 5, Ferdinand 2, Malabes 1, Webb 0, Mendoza 0, Chandumal 0, Lee 0.

>     UP 61-- Reyes 21, Co 9, Agbayani 9, Sorongon 8, Astorga 4, Sison 4, Lopez 4, Braganza 2, Pajela 0, de la Victoria 0, Marfori 0, Hipolito 0.

>     Quarterscores: 19-9, 34-30, 59-48, 81-61.