For the De La Salle UAAP men's basketball team, the future begins now. The Archers used a rock-solid defense and reliable team effort in posting an 84-77 win over the Tigers night of July 12 2003 at the Araneta Coliseum.

The Archers thus opened the season with an impressive defense showing, limiting a high-offensive opponent to a score of 74 points. Despite of the Tigers' 7-point advantage in the first quarter, the Archers kept its composure by grabbing a one-point lead at the end of second quarter.

De La Salle dispatched its opponent with a tough inside work and half-court press from a combination of veteran and rookie players.

Although most of the players are still young and inexperienced, they showed what faith and heart truly meant for them. Gaco, despite of being a rookie, was impressive in his 21-minute game with 9 points, 5 rebounds and 2 steals.

En route to being named as 2001 Rookie of the Year, Mac-Mac Cardona was undoubtedly the game's biggest surprise, as he led the Archers in its quest with his 22 points, 4 assists, 5 rebounds, and 1 steal. Joseph "the ninja" Yeo was also superb in his play as he went 4-for-7 from the three-point territory, and one of them is a three-point buzzer-beater.

It was not only the Archers' scoring and pressing ability that made them the leader inside the painted area, but also the point guard's ability to control the floor. Ty Tang was in control of the ball that night, posting a high count of 7 assists, plus 11 points and 5 rebounds to add in his fabulous stats.

De La Salle, despite of being a rookie-laden team, was able to pull off a comeback from a 6-point deficit. It was a miracle though that the Archers was able to stay in control during the second half of the game. For a while, it looked like the Archers will not be able to regain the lead, but then again, that is what "Animo" means - keeping the faith alive despite of all the odds.

The Archers will next be in action on Saturday, July 19 2003, against the UP Fighting Maroons. Game will start at 4 pm at the Blue Eagle Gym.

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The win enhanced De La Salle's record to 2-0 while University of the Philippines lost their second game in a row to fall to 0-2.

Veteran Mac-Mac Cardona and rookie JV Casio led the scores for the Archers with 14 and 12 points respectively, while

Ty Tang followed with 10 points in a 27-minute play. Shooting guard JV Casio was 3-of-7 from the field, including one three-point shot and 3-of-6 from the free throw line. He also had 4 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 assists. The Archers recorded a low 41-percent free throw average, the lowest since the opening day.

De La Salle was able to get the lead early in the game, but the UP Fighting Maroons came back to grab a one-point halftime lead. Nevertheless, point guard Tyrone Tang converted his one and only three-point shot to snatch the lead from the Maroons, 36-32 few minutes after the start of the third quarter. De La Salle was able to record a high 9-point advantage over University of the Philippines. However, the Maroons went on a 7-point run to chip away at the margin and cut the score to 50-47 at the end of the third quarter.

And the UP Fighting Maroons wasn't able to successfully stop De La Salle Green Archers from rallying in the game.

JV Casio then added a three-point shot, including one fastbreak lay-up to give the Archers a 9-point lead with 4:48 remaining. Center Manny Ramos then trailed with a dunk plus a foul with 2:43 left in the game.

De La Salle Green Archers is set to face UE Red Warriors on Thursday, July 24, at the Araneta Coliseum.

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