Five and counting
La Salle scored the first 14 points of the game—13 from Kevin Quiambao alone. The Archers also built a 20-point lead in the first half.
That should have been enough to deflate the morale of any opponent.
But the defending champions left a door open for University of Santo Tomas (UST) and although the Archers survived the Tigers’ comeback for a 94-87 overtime victory, they found something that needs working on as they work their way up the UAAP Season 87 men’s basketball ladder.
“After the third quarter, we kind of relaxed. Coach told us that UST might come back and that we should be prepared,” Quiambao said in Filipino after tallying a career-best 29 points on top of nine rebounds late on Wednesday night at Mall of Asia Arena.
UST did just that as it fought tooth and nail to bring the match past regulation, only to lose steam as disqualifications of big men Mo Tounkara and Christian Manaytay took its toll on the Tigers.
Even then, La Salle needed to dig deep and make key free throws before subduing UST on the way to its eighth victory in nine games.
“The coaches have prepared us in those kinds of situations but it was hard to cut a momentum when it’s grown too big. Thankfully, we went to overtime and then we got our groove again,” Quiambao said.
Mike Phillips had a layup in the extra period that gave La Salle a 91-81 cushion and grease its path to a fifth straight victory, the league’s hottest active win run.
26 turnovers
But the win also served as an eye-opener for the Archers: A point of concern will be the 20 points off turnovers scored by the Tigers, who pounced on La Salle’s 26 turnovers.
“We are working on our mistakes and that’s what we are practicing. As for our unforced turnovers, we just have a lot on our minds but despite that coach just allows us to play our game,” Quiambao, the reigning MVP and this season’s leader for that trophy, said.
“We need to value each possession and those lapses can be worked on in practice, those are not irreversible,” he added. “As a leader, whenever I make mistakes, whatever I show to the team, like if my morale is down, they are also down.”
“We made mistakes and it’s an opportunity for us to learn. 26 [turnovers] is no joke. We’ll work on these in preparation against Adamson,” La Salle coach Topex Robinson said.
UST was within a point when Quiambao knocked what should have been the dagger triple of the night. Instead, Kyle Paranada knocked down a triple and the Tigers forced a stop.
Forthsky Padirgao was fouled with two chances to turn an 80-79 deficit into the winning score but split his charities. The Tigers retained possession but could not get good shots off.
“Like what we are telling each other, basketball is a game of runs. During that time that the Tigers are having a run and we cannot get our groove, I just led by example,” Quiambao said. “I didn’t need to take over, we just needed to show good actions.”
“So when I commit mistakes, I acknowledge it and encourage them to move on to the next play. I tell them to ‘not force things over and over and to just wait for the game to come to us,’” he added.
The rest of the Archers got the memo. And it was all that they needed to hold on until the end.
“We’re not surprised on how UST played. We always remind ourselves that every team will be out competing against us. Coach Pido Jarencio and the rest of the staff are really doing a tremendous job in making sure they’re a competitive group,” Robinson said.
