By MARK REY MONTEJO
De La Salle University got off to a strong start on the way to scoring a vengeful 86-77 win over University of Santo Tomas in the UAAP Season 88 men’s basketball tournament at Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City Saturday, Oct. 25.
Despite missing several key players, the Green Archers buckled down to serious business right away and raced to a 52-30 lead in a run capped by Jacob Cortez’s triple.
The Taft-based squad then created enough separation to hold off the Tigers’ final assault in the fourth.
EJ Gollena also hit clutch triples, including a dagger that gave La Salle a comfortable 82-73 advantage in the dying minutes.
The win was La Salle’s third in a row and fifth overall in 8 games, forging a three-way tie with reigning champion University of the Philippines and UST, just behind No. 1 National University (6-2).
More than that, the victory enabled La Salle to exact sweet revenge on UST as the latter prevailed in their first encounter, 93-84, last Sept. 27, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
“We know how strong UST is right now and they are really playing tremendous basketball,” said La Salle head coach Topex Robinson. “But we made sure that we’re going to be confident coming in.”
JC Macalalag stood out for La Salle after collecting 18 points, four rebounds, three assists, and one steal, while Cortez chipped in 12 points, two rebounds, four assists, and one steal.
“Kita naman sa preparation namin for this game, ‘yong intensity, ‘yong focus. Masarap lang sa pakiramdam na prepared ‘yong mga kasama mo and sila ay willing ibigay lahat ng kaya nila,” said JC Macalalag.
Second stringers Vhoris Marasigan and Earl Abadam uncorked 10 points each, while Lebron Jhames Daep and Gollena contributed eight points apiece. La Salle skipper Mike Phillips had a quiet six points, but finished with 13 rebounds, six assists, one block and one steal.
Collins Akowe produced another double-double outing off 20 points and 14 rebounds which went with one assist, one block, and one steal. Gelo Crisostomo added 15 for UST.
Mark Llemit and Nic Cabañero cashed in 13 and 12 points, respectively, while Forthsky Padrigao faltered offensively with just three points to go along with four rebounds, 10 assists, and one steal.
The scores:
DLSU (86) – Macalalag 18, Cortez 12, Marasigan 10, Abadam 10, Daep 8, Gollena 8, Phillips 6, Dungo 5, Quines 5, Pablo 4, Nwankwo 0.
UST (77) – Akowe 20, Crisostomo 15, Llemit 13, Cabañero 12, Danting 5, Acido 4, Padrigao 3, Paranada 3, Calum 2, Buenaflor 0, Estacio 0.
Quarterscores: 24-17, 52-36, 64-51, 86-77
