Rookie Maui Villanueva found himself basking in the limelight as his buzzer-beating putback lifted the La Salle Green Archers to a thrilling 81-79 victory over the University of Santo Tomas Tigers August 28 at the Araneta Coliseum.

    Coming off the bench in the final 5.5 seconds, Villanueva quickly retrieved a missed lay-up and went for a follow-up which allowed the Green Archers to join the Ateneo Blue Eagles and the Far Eastern University into the Final Four semifinals.

    This made the jostling for the finals semis seat in the 71st University Athletic Association of the Philippines trimmed down to a two-way race between the University of the East Warriors and the UST Tigers.

    Villanueva, a transferee from the University of the Philippines, was checked in by acting La Salle coach Jack Santiago to replace forward Peejay Barua.

    He capitalized on an opportunity to go for the winning basket after LA Revilla bungled a driving lay-up from the right side. It was just his fifth and sixth marker of the game but this proved to be the game's most important basket.

    After losing to the Tamaraws in their last game, the Green Archers now share second place with the Tamaraws at 9-3, two games behind frontrunning Ateneo.

    The Tamaraws welcomed back a fallen teammate with a resounding 64-60 beating of the National University Bulldogs which earned them the second Final Four semifinal seat in an earlier game.

    The presence of Marnel Baracael on the playing court for the first time after he was shot last month for still unknown reasons,  boosted his teammates' spirits as they went on to claim their 10th Final Four appearance.

     For La Salle, which was handled by assistant coach Jack Santiago in the absence of national youth mentor Franz Pumaren, it will be its 13th Final Four appearance since 1994.

    Pumaren is currently in Iran, and will miss three games while taking care of the national youth team's campaign in the ongoing FIBA Youth Championship.

    JV Casio showed signs that he has fully recovered from respiratory infection which had sent him to the hospital for three days last week.

    He tallied 29 points for the Green Archers, who lost a seven-point advantage in the last 51.1 seconds.

    The Green Archers struggled to stay in control of the boards when Rico Maierhofer fouled out after they established a 78-71 edge off Casio's two free throws after getting fouled by Clark Bautista with 59.2 ticks to go.

    Dylan Ababou kept the Tigers' hopes alive in the final minute, sinking a charity at the expense of Maierhofer's disqualification, and a drive after forcing Casio to a turnover.

    His baskets touched off a 9-1 run which enabled UST to tie the match, 79-all.

    Rookie Emilian Vargas scored five of nine points with 5.5 ticks to go during UST's final scoring run which allowed UST to even matters up.

    The Tigers are still in contention with their 5-7 card. However, they will need to win against the University of the East Warriors in their next match.

    "Our last play was supposed to be for LA in the five seconds dahil siya iyung pinakamabilis. Buti na lang at na-beat nila yung time," said Santiago after the basket which was nearly nullified.

    Table officials needed to review the tape before declaring Villanueva's shot as a good one.

    When they did, the teamed roared in celebration and piled on top of Villanueva in their jubilation.

- Cesar Concio

      
The Scores:

     DLSU (81) - Casio 29, Barua 17, Maierhofer 16, Villanueva 6, Mangahas 6, Revilla 4, Webb 2, Ferdinand 1, Atkins 0, Malabes 0, Walsham 0.

     UST (79) - Cruz 28, Ababou 15, Mirza 11, Vargas 9, Bautista 5, Camus 3, Canlas 3, Cuan 3, Allera 2, Fenequito 0, Fortuna 0, Gile 0, Taylor 0.

     Quarters: 15-13; 34-36; 54-47; 81-79