La Salle ‘Z’ nails 2nd win; UST ace sets record

La Salle-Zobel remained perfect in the UAAP Season 87 junior high school basketball tournament on Wednesday.

Jhon Canapi, meanwhile, set a new scoring record for the 16-under tournament.

The Junior Archers hammered out a 97-82 victory over the Baby Falcons at Smart Araneta Coliseum, riding the momentum of their opening victory against powerhouse National U.

The victory put La Salle-Zobel up 2-0 (win-loss) in the standings.

“We used our previous victory as a springboard for this match,” coach Penny Laureaga said. “But the problem was we became complacent in the first half so we had to bounce back in the second half.

Tied at break

La Salle was held to a deadlock at 36 at the break, but came out with a 35-point third quarter to seize control and take a 71-52 spread.

Melvin Tailan was all over the court and finished with 27 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists and four steals to lead La Salle, which also got 25 points, seven assists and three steals from Vince Magan.

Canapi trumped both players in scoring, setting a new 16-under record of 35 points for Santo Tomas in its 100-77 rout of Ateneo.

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The previous junior high record was set by Canapi’s teammate, Andwele Cabañero, who scored 34 points against La Salle-Zobel last season.

“I motivated my players as preparation for this game because we were really bad in our opening game,” said University of Santo Tomas (UST) head coach Noli Mejos. “We tried to do it individually last game and we finished with only five assists. We had 24 today.”

UST lost to University of the East, 69-51, in its opening game. INQ