DE LA SALLE University got back on the winning track of the UAAP Season 87 Collegiate Men’s Basketball Tournament but not without a strong challenge from the winless Far Eastern University, 68-62, Wednesday evening at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
The Green Archers, who were coming off a shock loss to the University of the East Red Warriors last Sunday, took a 13-point lead early in the third quarter, 45-32, and looked prime to put the game away.
However, the Tamaraws, who trailed the entire first three quarters, rallied back and took their first lead of the game on a Miguel Ona putback to start the fourth frame.
But La Salle had one last run that eventually gave the defending champions the win as Mike Phillips, Henry Agunanne, and EJ Gollena teamed up for a strong finisher for solo second spot at 4-1.
“It’s just another challenging opportunity for us. I told them can I go back to our UE game? UE didn’t upset us, they really deserved the win.,” said Green Archers head coach Topex Robinson.
“We don’t really consider it as an upset and UE just gave us something that really helped us. I guess, it kinda cleaned up the pressure of not losing. I guess what it did to us as a team was it grounded us. It just reminded us that this season for us is gonna be hard and even harder, just like what happened today with FEU,” added the second-year coach.
Phillips scored six points in the last six minutes of the game on his way to finishing with 13 points while also tallying 14 rebounds and two blocks.
Kevin Quiambao flirted with a third UAAP career triple double of in 12 points, 11 rebounds, and eight assists, that went along with three steals, while Earl Abadam and Agunanne added nine points each.
Pasaol, a rookie guard, had a team-high 13 points but committed eight turnovers as The Tamaraws dropped to 0-5.
Gambian center Mo Konateh also contributed significantly in the losing cause with 12 points, 25 rebounds, and four blocks.
Veejay Pre and Jorick Bautista struggled with 11 and nine points on 4-of-16 and 3-of-21 shooting from the field, respectively.
La Salle looks to create a new winning streak when it returns on Sunday against University of Santo Tomas, 4:30 p.m. at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
FEU continues to aim for win no. 1 on Sunday as well against Ateneo de Manila University at 6:30 p.m.
The Scores:
DLSU 68 – Phillips 13, Quiambao 12, Abadam 9, Agunanne 9, Gonzales 8, Gollena 6, David 3, Macalalag 3, Ramiro 3, Marasigan 2, Austria 0, Dungo 0, Rubico 0.
FEU 62 – Pasaol 13, Konateh 12, Pre 11, Bautista 9, Alforque 6, Montemayor 5, Nakai 4, Ona 2, Daa 0, Bagunu 0.
Quarterscores: 19-13, 38-28, 51-50, 68-62