MANILA, Philippines – De La Salle University put on a ruthless performance to thoroughly demolish University of Santo Tomas (UST), 99-56, and stretch its unbeaten streak to 11 games in the UAAP Season 79 men's basketball tournament Sunday at the Araneta Coliseum.
La Salle broke the game open in the second period and went on to lead by as much as 46 points, 93-47, as the Green Archers underscored their dominance of UST this season. They also crushed the Tigers, 100-62, when they met in the first round.
The 43-point loss now marks UST's worst defeat since 2006, battering the 38-point margin of defeat that they suffered at La Salle's hands earlier in the season.
At 11-0, La Salle has now secured a twice-to-beat advantage in the Final Four and is three games away from a sweep of the elimination round.
"We're taking this one game at a time," La Salle assistant coach Paulo Sauler said. "We're not thinking of a sweep – we haven't achieved anything yet. We want to continue to be humble and we want to be grateful."
Head coach Aldin Ayo fielded in his entire line-up and every La Salle player scored at least two points. Ben Mbala had 21 points, 15 rebounds, and five blocks in under 23 minutes, while rookie big man Justine Baltazar had 10 points and 12 boards in under 14 minutes.
Jeron Teng scored 16 points, 10 of which came in the first quarter when he helped the Green Archers pull away after a tight start.
The Growling Tigers started the game on a better note, even leading 10-5 early in the first period that had Ayo suing for time.
But the Green Archers soon got their rhythm, with Mbala's putback dunk with three minutes left giving La Salle a 13-12 advantage. They took a 19-15 lead at the end of the first period, then outscored UST, 26-8, in the second frame to enter the halftime break with a massive 45-23 advantage.
In all, La Salle ended the first half with a 40-13 run after trailing early on. The Green Archers thoroughly dominated the second half, with their second stringers contributing on both ends of the floor while the Growling Tigers simply could not keep up.
DLSU's fastbreak game is A+ pic.twitter.com/i1zt5LZ74O
— ABS-CBN Sports (@abscbnsports) October 23, 2016
A seven-point burst in the span of 46 seconds gave La Salle its biggest lead, 93-47, with 2:12 left to play.
"We just wanted to play our hardest and give our best effort out there on the floor, whether the win margin was big or small," said Sauler. "We just want to take care of details, and hopefully, the result will follow."
La Salle converted 46.34% of its shots and had a massive 66-35 advantage on the glass. They had 26 offensive rebounds, which led to 32 second chance points, and they also made 21 of their 29 free throws.
Louie Vigil led UST with 18 points and seven rebounds, though he had a team-high five turnovers as well. Marvin Lee made only two of his 12 attempts for five points.
The Tigers dropped to 3-8 in the tournament.
The scores:
DLSU 99 – Mbala 21, Teng 16, Baltazar 10, Rivero R 9, Perkins 8, Torres 5, Montalbo 5, Tratter 4, Sargent 4, Dyke 4, Paraiso 4, Rivero P 4, Melecio 3, Caracut 2
UST 56 – Vigil 18, Subido 9, Sheriff 6, Huang 6, Lee 5, Arana 5, Lao 3, Faundo 2, De Guzman 2, Afoakwah 0, Macasaet 0
Quarter scores: 19-15, 45-23, 68-37, 99-56
(For more sports coverage, visit the ABS-CBN Sports website.)
0 comments :
Post a Comment