STREAK BUSTER
- Defending champion La Salle crushes UP bid to go undefeated in first round
For a match that both teams wanted to treat as just another game in the UAAP Season 87 men’s basketball schedule, La Salle’s duel with University of the Philippines (UP) sure had trimmings of a championship showdown.’There was a heated confrontation between coaches. There was the 16,106 fans in attendance. There was the fierce back-and-forth between the two clubs.
Heck, even the result brought back championship memories.
The Archers, who are defending their crown this season,
remained the masters of the Maroons after a 68-56 victory on Sunday at Mall of Asia Arena that relived their championship rivalry.
La Salle won its sixth game in seven outings while dealing UP its forst loss in the first round. While both are tied at 6-1 (win-loss), the Archers took over the top spot for the first time this season by virtue of the winner-over-the-other rule.
“We’re just very happy with how things turned out,” assistant coach Gian Nazario, speaking on behalf of coach Topex Robinson, said after the blockbuster matchup where the emotions were high as the coaching staff of both teams was caught in a verbal exchange in the third quarter.
“We knew it’s gonna be a grind out game, we knew that it would be a game of runs and we were able to weather the storm,” he added. Like they say, we all know what UP can do and what they can do.”
Joshua David finished with 14 points on a 62.5 shooting percentage to fuel the Archers, adding in seven rebounds for good measure.
“I am not wasting the opportunity given to me by the coaching staff. It’s just a bonus if I am able to exceed my role,” David said. “All of us are always ready so no matter who they call up will step up.”
“This was a good win for us and it’s something good that we can take into the second round,” he added. “But we still had a lot of errors and that’s something we need to correct going into the second round. We all know the second round is going to be about adjustments so we have to get ready.”
Even after wasting an early 20-point lead to a big UP rally in the third, La Salle was still able to send the Maroons to their first loss this season and down to second spot after being in the lead up until tip-off on Sunday.
Reigning MVP Kevin Quiambao did his usual thing, with 20 points, making nearly half his shots from beyond the arc, and 10 rebounds.
“Coming into this game, the coaching staff told us to believe and have faith that we can beat every team,” Quiambao said after revealing the the players met to remind themselves of their previous loss to University of the East and that facing enormous pressure against UP was “a privilege.”
UE had stunned La Salle earlier in the first round, a 75-71 upset that worked wonders for the Archers.
La Salle came prepared and immediately left UP, which made just seven out of 33 shots in the first half, in the dust of a 35-15 advantage, the biggest lead of the game.
The Maroons seemed to struggle with their rhythm after continuing to miss star JD Cagulangan for a second straight outing.
But UP once again had a big third quarter, outscoring the defending champions 21-13, to stay in the game as Harold Alarcon fired 12 of his 19 points there.
Terrence Fortea drained a triple and two free throws, his only points, to bring UP to within 55-51, before a 7-0 run by the Archers courtesy of EJ Gollena, David and JC Macalalag, iced the game. INQ
