DE LA SALLE University showcased its championship composure, surviving a third quarter barrage by University of the Philippines and still winning by 12, 68-56, to finish the first round of the UAAP Season 87 Collegiate Men’s Basketball Tournament as the No. 1 team, Sunday evening at the SM Mall of Asia Arena filled with 16,106 fans in attendance.
The Green Archers dealt their Season 86 Finals rivals Fighting Maroons their first loss of the season to forge a tie atop the standings at 6-1 with the defending champions holding the advantage due to “win over the other” rule.
“We’re just very happy on how things turned out. We know it’s gonna be a grind out game. We know it’s gonna be a game of turns. Sabi nga, we were able to weather the storm. Alam naman namin what UP can do and capable of doing. We’re just happy the players responded,” said La Salle assistant coach Gian Nazario.
Down by as much as 20 in the second quarter, 15-35, the Fighting Maroons rallied back with a massive 27-7 blast bridging through the third period to knot the match at 42 with 2:31 left in the quarter.
During that stretch, Harold Alarcon scored 14 points for UP.
However, the Green Archers fought back as Lian Ramiro made a layup followed by back-to-back hits by the reigning MVP Kevin Quiambao on a triple and a jumper for a 49-42 cushion with 1:26 to go.
La Salle then stretched a 55-51 margin to 68-54 with just 52.8 seconds remaining in the game with EJ Gollena, Joshua David, JC Macalalag, and Kevin Quiambao all making their marks.
“Coming into this game, sinabi lang sa amin ng coaching staff Believe and Faith na kaya naming talunin lahat ng team so yung pagkatalo namin sa UE is a wake-up call sa amin. This game sobrang gigil kami na makuha itong panalo na ito kasi marami pa kami kailangang iimprove,” said Quiambao, who tallied 20 points and 10 rebounds.
Joshua David also impacted the game huge with 14 points on four three-pointers along with seven rebounds and two assists,
Macalalag had seven points, while Ramiro, Earl Abadam, and Vhoris Marasigan got five points apiece in the win where the Green Archers shot 11-of-24 from deep compared to UP’s 2-of-20 mark.
Tempers flared at the 2:54 mark of the third frame when assistant coaches Gian Nazario of La Salle and Tom Chua of UP appeared to say words to each other, almost meeting at centercourt before cooler heads prevailed.
Alarcon led the way for the Fighting Maroons with 19 points, five rebounds, and three steals but missed all his four attempts from beyond the arc.
One-and-done Quentin Millora-Brown added 10 points, 10 rebounds, and four blocks, while Francis Lopez had eight points and seven rebounds.
Lead guard JD Cagulangan missed his second straight game for UP but will be ready come the start of the second round according to their head coach Goldwin Monteverde.
The Scores:
DLSU 68 – Quiambao 20, David 14, Macalalag 7, Ramiro 5, Abadam 5, Marasigan 5, Phillips 4, Gollena 4, Austria 2, Agunanne 2, Gonzales 0.
UP 56 – Alarcon 19, Millora-Brown 10, Lopez 8, Torres 6, Belmonte 5, Fortea 5, Abadiano 2. Bayla 1, Stevens 0, Felicilda 0, Torculas 0, Ududo 0.
Quarterscores: 19-13, 38-25, 51-46, 68-56.