MANILA, Philippines – The De La Salle Green Archers put on a show in the fourth quarter to demolish the National University Bulldogs, 113-88, and become the first team to formally secure a Final Four berth in the UAAP Season 79 men's basketball tournament.
The Green Archers pounced on the Bulldogs' bevy of turnovers in the fourth period to turn a nine-point game into a complete rout, with several players contributing to their scoring barrage in front of a mostly pro-La Salle crowd Wednesday at the Arena in San Juan.
La Salle now improves to 10-0, while handing National U their fourth consecutive defeat. The Bulldogs drop 4-6, and into fifth place in the league standings.
"We want to continue to keep building our team," assistant coach Paulo Sauler said after the game. "We haven't achieved anything yet, so we want to keep working harder."
The Bulldogs got off to a better start, even leading by 10 points, 14-4, only for La Salle to roar back thanks to rookie Aljun Melecio, who provided a spark off the bench for the Green Archers.
It was Melecio's booming triple late in the first period that gave his team the lead for good, 24-23.
"Pinalaro lang kami," Melecio said. "Confidence lang. Sabi ni coach, just take your shots and play your game."
National U remained within striking distance until early in the final quarter, when a three-pointer by J-Jay Alejandro trimmed La Salle's lead to nine points, 87-78, with still 8:32 left to play.
That was when the Green Archers thoroughly broke the game open thanks to their now-trademark "mayhem" defense. They forced NU to commit a series of turnovers, leading to breakaway buckets for Melecio, Kib Montalbo, and Jeron Teng.
Ben Mbala, after a slow first half, got his rhythm in second half as he scored off putbacks and offensive rebounds. Much like their first round meeting, which La Salle won 75-66, Mbala outplayed NU big man Alfred Aroga, who struggled with foul trouble once more.
La Salle went on to lead by as much as 27 points en route to a sweep of National U in the tournament.
"We want to put our mark defensively," Sauler said, while commending back-up guard Julian Sargent for giving the team a spark in the third period. "Sargent came up big for us defensively in the second half, and so did the other guys."
"We just want to keep building on that and work on the things we need to improve on," he added.
Mbala finished with 29 points and 14 rebounds, though he did have eight turnovers. Melecio finished with 18 points, making seven of his 12 shots, while Teng added 13 points, five rebounds, and four assists.
The rebounding numbers show the gravity of La Salle's dominance. They had 51 rebounds as a team, including 25 offensive rebounds. NU, as a team, only had 24 boards in total. Thanks in part to their activity on the glass, the Green Archers shot 89 field goals, converting 45 of them for a 50.56% rate.
National U actually shot a bit better from the field, at 51.61%. However, they only had 62 field goals, while also turning the ball over 27 times that led to 36 points in transition for La Salle.
Aroga, meanwhile, had only two points and two rebounds, though he had five assists. However, NU simply could not keep up with La Salle offensively, as the Green Archers had 27 more shots than they did.
The scores:
DLSU 113 – Mbala 29, Melecio 18, Teng 13, Torres 12, Tratter 8, Rivero R 6, Caracut 5, Montalbo 5, Perkins 4, Baltazar 4, Rivero P 4, Sargent 2, Go 2, Dyke 1, Paraiso 0
NU 88 – Diputado R 23, Alejandro 17, Morido 13, Gallego 10, Salem 6, Pate 6, Salim 5, Mosqueda 4, Aroga 2, Diputado C 2, Abatayo 0, Go 0, Sinclair 0, Rangel
0, Yu 0
QUARTER SCORES: 24-23, 56-49, 85-75, 113-88
(For more sports coverage, visit the ABS-CBN Sports website.)
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