GREEN LIGHT, RED LIGHT
La Salle and University of the East (UE) were deadlocked eight times late Saturday night and traded leads 16 times.
But if there was any indication that the game had been close, it was the fact that after Kevin Quiambao drained a three-pointer late in the third period, the Archers took a 56-52 lead with 2:05 remaining in the third period.
Up until then, that was the game’s biggest margin. Throughout all those trading of punches, Mike Phillips kept reminding himself: “Don’t back away from the system just because you want to come back right away. And so, really just try to stay [on] the path.”
He made the big difference for La Salle as the defending champions avenged a first-round loss to UE and hacked out a 77-68 victory in the opening playdate of the UAAP Season 87 men’s basketball tournament’s second round.
Phillips finished with 27 points and 17 rebounds, an all-around performance that also featured five assists, a couple of blocks and a steal that allowed La Salle to stay on top of the leaderboard with a 7-1 (win-loss) card.
But while the 6-foot-8 forward cooled the Warriors’ red-hot five-game run, he said it wasn’t a singlehanded effort.
“For me, if you can see, all of my points or my rebounds came from my teammates,” Phillips said. “[They] are not … credited for coming off the ball screen hard, attacking one of the best shot blockers, [Precious] Momowei, and freeing me up.”
Double-double by halftime
Phillips already had a 20-point, 12-rebound double-double by halftime, where UE protected a slim lead before La Salle found their range from beyond the arc and tore away in the third period.
La Salle is now on a four-game winning streak, now the league’s longest active win run, counting another streak-buster—a 68-56 emotion-filled mastery of Finals foe University of the Philippines at the end of round one.
“My teammates really make me look good in those areas. I’m able to come in and try to be my energetic self because of them and so, for me, it was kind of just highlighting their contribution,” Phillips said.
“And that’s what coach always says, those things don’t show up in the stat sheet. When I roll and Josh David is sprinting his butt off to the corner and JC )(Macalalag) is attacking hard with no fear, CJ (Austria), my guy, he’s attacking with no fear then it just makes my job a lot easier to try to battle for those rebounds,” he added.
High-motor bigs
It was a battle of high-motor bigs in the paint as Phillips fought tooth-and-nail against the heart and soul of UE, Precious Momowei, who finished with 21 points and nine rebounds in the Warriors’ defeat.
“Momowei, every time I play against that guy, he’s just the energy guy … and so when he [dunked on me] I felt that [and] the UE crowd but for me, what the coaches are teaching me, especially coach Gian (Nazario) and coach Topex (Robinson), in those moments don’t retaliate,” Phillips said.
Quiambao, the reigning MVP, had an uncharacteristic night, scoring his first points only around the six-minute mark of the third quarter by splitting his free throws before finishing with 10 points and six rebounds.
Macalalag also contributed with 10 points while Vhoris Marasigan came up with nine points and five rebounds in 17 minutes.
The Warriors fell behind by double-digits in the second half but continued to make huge plays in an attempt to sweep the season series against the Archers.
“You know, UE, we knew they’re gonna make big plays like that. They’re gonna make those hand-in-the-face threes and so, for me, just trying to do my best to kind of stay steady and really try to focus on the next play,” Phillips said.
But La Salle made sure there would be no repeat of its lone defeat so far in this tournament.
“The players really fought well, and they know the experience of losing to UE … so we just rekindled that and we just reminded them that it’s gonna take a lot to really beat this [UE],” coach Topex Robinson said.
