PASAY CITY, Philippines — What looked like a blowout victory instead turned into a cardiac affair and when the final buzzer sounded, it was De La Salle University that stood tall against Ateneo de Manila University in Game 1 of the UAAP men's basketball finals.

Jeron Teng came up clutch on both ends of the floor, scoring the go-ahead basket with 15.1 seconds then blocking Aaron Black's attempt in the ensuing play to lift the Green Archers to a hard-fought 67-65 victory at the Mall of Asia Arena Saturday.

The Blue Eagles battled back from a 15-point deficit and seized their first and only lead of the game, 65-64, off a spinning drive by Matt Nieto with 34.6 seconds left to play.

Nieto had a chance to pad the lead but missed the bonus free throw. The Blue Eagles collected the offensive rebound, but Kib Montalbo forced a turnover that led to Teng's basket.

Off an Ateneo timeout, Black went up for a jump shot, only to be denied by Teng. The Blue Eagles then fouled Montalbo, who split his free throws to ice the game.

"It was winning time," said La Salle head coach Aldin Ayo after their win.

"Sabi ko nga, pag end game, crunch time . . . Si JT (Jeron Teng) beterano and s'yempre, 'yung talent ni Ben (Mbala) . . . hindi magpapatalo ang mga ito."

(I've been saying that if it's the end game, crunch time . . . JT, he's a veteran and of course Ben's talent. They don't want to lose.)

Mbala overcame a slow first quarter to finish with 20 points and 15 rebounds, though he did commit five of La Salle's 21 turnovers.

Teng had 10 points and shrugged off foul trouble in the fourth quarter, while rookie Aljun Melecio finished with 12 including a two key three-pointers the halted a couple of Blue Eagle runs.

Black led Ateneo with 12 points, eight rebounds, and three assists, while Adrian Wong finished with nine poins.

Thirdy Ravena chipped in eight points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals, but coughed up six of Ateneo's 16 turnovers.

Game 2 of the best-of-three series is on Wednesday at the Araneta Coliseum.

La Salle got off to a flying start, leading by as many as 15 points, 17-2, in the first quarter as the Blue Eagles looked discombobulated on offense and struggled to contain the Green Archers from the perimeter.

Mbala had to sit down with 3:45 left in the quarter after being called for two quick fouls, but that didn't stop La Salle's momentum.

Ateneo clawed its way back in the game in the second quarter thanks to Isaac Go and Black, whose three-point play cut the deficit to 26-22 with 4:33 to go before halftime.

But the Green Archers pulled away again thanks to Mbala, who shrugged off the defense of Ateneo big man Chibueze Ikeh to score easy layups and draw fouls.

La Salle took a 36-26 lead at the break.

In the third quarter, La Salle's offense grew stagnant as the Green Archers repeatedly went to Mbala in the paint, where the Cameroonian big man was met with double, even triple teams.

After making only nine of their 32 attempts from the field in the first half, the Blue Eagles began to find their mark in the third. Black's three-pointer with 4:07 left made it 44-42.

A triple by Melecio pushed the Green Archers' lead back to six, 50-44, with three minutes left in the quarter, but the Blue Eagles refused to go away and took advantage of the Green Archers going over the foul limit.

Free throws by Matt Nieto and Raffy Verano in the final minute tied the game at 52-all heading into the final quarter.

"Di ko naman masasabi kasi 'yung laro, papalit-palit eh," Ayo said when asked if he anticipated Ateneo's comeback. "

"Di ko iniisip 'yung gagawin nila. Basta ang iniisip ko, ma-execute 'yung game plan namin. We prepared our game plan, and pasok na pasok 'yun sa kanila."

(It's hard to say because it was back-and-forth game. I wasn't thinking of what they were going to do. What matters to me is for us to be able to execute the game plan.)

La Salle reeled off seven straight points to open the final quarter, but Ateneo refused to go away.

Nieto buried a triple and Ikeh scored a couple of baskets down low to keep the Blue Eagles within striking distance.

Ikeh's bucket with 1:57 left made it 64-63 and Ateneo got a huge break when Teng's jump shot with at the 37.6-second mark was nullified as it came a the shot clock expired.

After a timeout, Nieto's basket made it 65-64 before Teng's heroics sealed the win.

"Siguro 'yung basket, instinct na lang 'yun," said Teng. "Ben did a good job in sealing, so I saw an opening and nakuha ko 'yung lay-up."

(It was instinct, that basket. I saw an opening and I got a layup.

"Yung stop kay Aaron, wala na, crunch time na 'yun so parang adrenaline na lang 'yun," said Teng. "Buti natamaan ko 'yung bola."

(That stop on Aaron, you had no choice, It was crunch time so it was like just adrenaline at that point. It was a good thing I hit the ball.)

A win on Game 2 will give the Green Archers their ninth league title.

"I told my other teammates that we have to play better," said Teng. "We have to play better, para 'di kabahan 'yung mga nanonood sa amin."

(We have to play better so we don't put the fans on edge.)

The scores:

DLSU 67 — Mbala 20, Melecio 12, Teng 10, Sargent 7, Torres 5, Montalbo 4, Rivero P 3, Tratter 3, Rivero R 2, Caracut 1, Perkins 0, Baltazar 0

ATENEO 65 — Black 12, Wong 9, Ravena 8, Ikeh 8, Nieto Mi 8, Go 6, Verano 5, Nieto Ma 5, Tolentino 2, Asistio 2, Porter 0, Mendoza 0

QUARTER SCORES: 19-6, 36-26, 52-52, 67-65.

For more sports coverage, visit the ABS-CBN Sports website.