GREEN ARCHERS DOWN RED WARRIORS, ENTER FINAL FOUR
DE LA SALLE UNIVERSITY clinched the second Final Four spot with a 99-78 domination of University of the East (UE) in Season 80 University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) men’s basketball tournament on Wednesday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Ben Mbala and the rest of the Green Archers made sure King Warrior Alvin Pasaol won’t have another explosive scoring game, putting the clamps on the high-scoring forward to book their fourth straight win and improve their win- loss mark to 9-2.
The win put the defending champions back in the Final Four stage behind the leading team Ateneo de Manila University (10-0).
Mbala had 25 points in 25 minutes and hauled down 14 rebounds although he had seven of La Salle’s 26 turnovers in the game.
But the Cameroonian limited Pasaol to 23 a tournament and career-high 49 markers in their 100-106 loss.
“We are always up at the start ( of the game) but we slowed down in the second half. Every game, we have to learn experience and play according to our game plan,” said La Salle’s Ricci Rivero, who contributed 13 points in the game. With Mbala focusing on the defensive end, Santi Santillan and Justine Baltazar contributed on the offensive end with the two big men combining for 27 points on 12-of-14
Baltazar was a surprise contributor for coach Aldin Ayo, hitting all of his six attempts from the field including a threepoint banked shot that gave the Green Archers their biggest lead at 27 points, 74-47, 2:20 left in the third period.
“Coach Aldin just told me to be ready because Ben can’t play all the four quarters,” said Baltazar.
Every time the Red Warriors tried to stage a rally, La Salle had an answer to smother the run and put UE in the brink of elimination with a 3-8 mark.
After Baltazar’s triple, UE scored the next eight points, 55-74, but seldom-used Christian Gonzales hit a triple to end the third period with a 77-55 cushion.
Pasaol tried to rally his team back and shoved the Red Warriors within 14, 65-79, but La Salle responded with a 7-0 run for an 86-65 cushion with 5:44 remaining.
UE failed to recover from that assault and put their Final Four hopes in the balance.
Mark Olayon was the only other Red War a 14-4 lead early in the game.
Pasaol put UE within two, 18- 20, but that’s the closest the team of head coach Derrick Pumaren could get in the game as La Salle used an 8-0 run to end the period for a 28-18 spread.