GETTING RIGHT IN IT
Needing no less than a win to muddle up the Final Four race in Season 88 of the UAAP men’s basketball tournament—and get itself in the middle of it—La Salle on Sunday night pulled out all the stops against University of the Philippines for a 72-69 victory that had the Green Archers creating an interesting logjam at No. 3.
Luis Pablo scattered 14 points and Jacob Cortez accounted for 12 as the duo led the Archers in snapping the defending champion Fighting Maroons’ four-game winning streak at the Smart Araneta Coliseum to rise to 4-3 and tie their victims together with idle Ateneo.
Only National University at 6-1 and University of Santo Tomas at 5-2 have better records than the trio, which will be vital as the eliminations enter its final half in two weeks..
“Whatever the result may be, as long as we give our best, we’re good,” La Salle coach Topex Robinson said. “We knew we were going up against the defending champions so it’s going to be a test of character.
“This is going to be a character game for us, but there’s still a lot of games to be played so this is not the end of the deal for us, it’s just the end of the first round.”
La Salle’s character was tested for the whole game, especially in the stretch where it all mattered.
With the score tied at 66, UP gunner Terrence Fortea sank a huge triple that gave the Maroons a 69-66 lead with just 1:27 to go.
But rather than folding up, the Archers fought doggedly with five straight points from Earl Abadam and Vhrosi Marasigan heading into the final 28 seconds.
Mike Phillips dominated in the paint, finishing with 12 points and 19 rebounds for the Archers, the champions two seasons ago, who ended the round on a streak after that sanctions-filled 111-110 victory over the University of the East last week.
“There were many moments in that game where I just felt out of body, I was just enjoying the game,” Phillips said. “We made mistakes, but we got this (win) for our teammates.”
Phillips was obviously referring to injured Archers Mason Amos and Kean Baclaan, the injured duo who are now the centers of La Salle’s campaign to regain supremacy.
Harold Alarcon turned in an all-around game of 13 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Francis Nnoruka’s 12 points and 14 rebounds also went down the drain.
Meanwhile, Far Eastern coach Sean Chambers had numerous reasons to smile on Sunday, but none bigger than seeing Janrey Pasaol continue to take the reins for the Tamaraws.
The Tamaraws ended their first half elimination schedule on a high note with a 95-76 win over a shorthanded University of the East behind the efforts of Pasaol, who’s slowly shaping up to be one of the league’s best guards.
“I’m super proud of Jan. We had a hard conversation yesterday and (told him) there are other things I expect from him,” Chambers said.
“His performance today almost brought me to tears because we had a long conversation yesterday regarding my expectations for him as a leader of the team.”
Pasaol didn’t only score 17 points in the squad’s second season win, but he also made sure everyone had a chance to shine with 10 assists that went with two steals and two blocks for good measure.
The second-year guard also helped Far Eastern stop a two-game slide and will enter the second round with a 2-5 card.
Sunday was no isolated case for Pasaol as he has also shown glimpses of what he can do for the Tamaraws heading forward. And playing the way he did against the Red Warriors can have him being involved in Mythical Team or even MVP talk.
But Pasaol doesn’t want to think about that. What matters for him is pushing FEU to a Final Four spot despite them being in seventh place after Sunday.
“We’ve been losing for a while, so we need to win,” he said. “That’s my only focus. I don’t have any thoughts on individual awards. Right now, I really don’t have that in mind.”
Mo Konateh was a brilliant two-way presence for the Tamaraws, scattering 15 points and 14 rebounds, with Kirby Mongcopa’s 12-point and 11-rebound output also proving key. Jorick Bautista actually topscored for Far Eastern with 22 points.
Precious Momowei had 23 points and 11 rebounds for UE, but it wasn’t enough as the Red Warriors remained the only winless team in the field.
