La Salle’s Mbala makes impressive UAAP debut
La Salle’s prized import Ben Mbala was good as advertised. He was imposing on both ends, expectedly got his numbers, and gave the Green Archers a victory over the defending UAAP champion Far Eastern University (FEU) Tamaraws last Wednesday.
Despite the rave reviews, Mbala also had his moments of struggle and indecisiveness, something the Cameroonian hopes to minimize this season.
“I think there’s still a lot of adjustment,” Mbala said after La Salle’s 8378 victory over FEU at the Mall of Asia Arena. “It was pretty hard but I have to find ways to get back to my game.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s UAAP, Filoil, or other league, I still have to be able to come out there and provide what coach asked me to provide.”
Mbala met high expectations on the statistical aspect, finishing with 13 points, 23 rebounds and four blocks. But he also had to weather the tough FEU defense that used almost every trick in the book to make him work for his numbers while committing six turnovers.
“Well, this is really telling me a lot about being double-teamed, tripleteamed,” he said. “So I have to be able to make the adjustment and be able to read, be able to make the good decision when to attack or when to kick the ball out.”
Regardless, La Salle is pleased to have the former Southwestern University standout on the squad, particularly graduating star Jeron Teng, who led the way for La Salle with 28 points.
“Kahit medyo minalas si Ben na first game jitter, he really dominated the rebounding category,” said Teng. “Pag tumitira ka tapos alam mo na may Ben Mbala ka, kumpiyansa ka lang kasi alam mong pupulutin niya ang bola.”
New La Salle coach Aldin Ayo was victorious in his first UAAP game, but
NEW YORK (AP) — Andy Murray lost his way, seven consecutive games and, eventually, his riveting five-set U.S. Open quarterfinal against Kei Nishikori after a loud noise from a malfunctioning sound system interrupted a key point, resulting in a do-over. Whether or not the gong-like sound, and chair umpire Marija Cicak’s let ruling, was the reason that Nishikori wound up coming back to win 1-6, 6-4, 4-6, 6-1, 7-5 on Wednesday, it surely will be what’s most remembered about the back-and-forth, 4-hour match.
After all, Murray’s extended discussions with Cicak and another official about the unusual episode came during a stretch in which he dropped 12 of 14 points.
He went from a lead of two sets to one, plus a break point at 1-all, to ceding the fourth set and trailing 2-0 in the fifth.
“I could have won the match for sure,” said Murray, the No. 2 seed and 2012 champion at Flushing Meadows.
Murray acknowledged a brief dip in play, but preferred to focus on other reasons for allowing the sixthseeded Nishikori to reach a Grand Slam semifinal for the first time since he was the U.S. Open runnerup two years ago.
“I broke serve enough times,” Murray said. “I just didn’t hold serve enough. That was the difference.”
Nishikori will face third seed Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland who ousted wild card Juan Martin del Potro, 7-6 (7/5), 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.
In the women’s quarterfinals, Serena Williams was broken for the first time in the tournament, and lost a set for the first time, too, but eventually got past No. 5 Simona Halep 6-2, 4-6, 6-3.
On Thursday, Williams faces 10th-seeded Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic, who reached the first major semifinal of her career by eliminating the 18-year-old Konjuh 6-2, 6-2. The other women's semifinal is No. 2 Angelique Kerber vs. twotime runner-up Caroline Wozniacki. bared that his highly-touted squad is far from being a well-oiled machine.
The other side of the story saw FEU coach Nash Racela, disappointed yet pleased with the effort. He believes the Tamaraws were able to make a statement despite a young squad tasked to fill the void left by last year’s stars Mac Belo, Mike Tolomia, Roger Pogoy, Russell Escoto, Alfrancis Tamsi and Achie Iñigo.
“It’s hard to be satisfied because we lost the game. But what we’ve showed is the ability to compete against a strong team like La Salle, and it is something that gives us a positive thought for this season,” Racela told reporters after emerging from the locker room.