Struggling to get their offense going all game, the Green Archers fall to Ateneo 55-71 Saturday for their third loss of the season.
Doing a good job on the defensive end, La Salle kept the game close until the halfway mark of the second period. From there, the Blue Eagles slowly pulled away while the Green Archers went scoreless for 5 minutes. Aljun Melecio broke the silence with a buzzer beating three to end the first half.
Aljun Melecio shoots it better with the clock winding down. ? #UAAPSeason81 pic.twitter.com/QX03hYXM0Q
— ABS-CBN Sports (@abscbnsports) October 6, 2018
It was all Ateneo from thereon as a strong their quarter enabled to increase their lead to 17. With Melecio taking charge, La Salle managed to trim the deficit to just 12 in fourth period but the Blue Eagles made the right stops down the stretch to notch their 5th straight win.
Coming off a good shooting performance last Wednesday, the Archers were just 29% from the field in this game. It also did not help that they had 28 turnovers in which Ateneo was able to score 29 points off them. They also finished with a season low 3 assists.
Melecio was the lone Archer in double digits with 21 points. Justine Baltazar and Santi Santillan were limited to just 4 and 7 points respectively.
Team captain Kib Montalbo made a surprise return after being sidelined for 2 weeks with a hand injury. He finished with 4 points and 1 steal.
Man of Steal back at it ? #UAAPSeason81 pic.twitter.com/1XTbAXpTxK
— ABS-CBN Sports (@abscbnsports) October 6, 2018
The Green Archers slide down to 3-3 and shall face Adamson next week to end the first round.
The Scores:
DLSU 55 – Melecio 21, Santillan 7, Dyke 6, Baltazar 4, Montalbo 4, Caracut 4, Bates 3, Serrano 3, Manuel 3, Go 0
ADMU 71 – Kouame 20, Asistio 12, Ravena 9, Verano 8, Navarro 6, Go 6, Tio 5, Nieto Mi 3, Nieto Ma 2, Wong 0, Mamuyac 0, Belangel 0, Mendoza 0
Quarterscores: 12-13, 28-21, 50-33, 71-55
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