Heavy lifter
Diakhite carries Warriors to upset win over Falcons; Eagles soar to eighth straight
The way he did the heavy lifti ngf ort he University of the East last week i nac ritical UAAP Seaso n8 2 clash ,it was also no surprise tha ts enegalese cente ra lex Diakhite also pu ti njure dt eammate Neil Tolentino between his two hand san d carried him all the way tot he bench after t hef orwa rdt weaked his ankle in the third period, drawing laughter from t hem OA Arena crowd.
Practically doi ng everything for his team that has suddenly revived hopes o faf irst Final Four appearance i na decade ,t he 6foot9Di akhit ep oure d1 5 o fh is career-high 29 points in that quarter as the Re dw arrior ss tunne dt he Adamson Falcons, 80-74 ,o n Saturd ayf ort heir first winni ngs treak of the season.
Playi ngh is only yea ro fel igibilit yf ort he Warriors ,R ey Suerte pumpe di n 26 point s as UE followed up its 78-72 win ove rn ational U with an upse tto sta rtt he second phase of the eliminations.
UE ’sb i gw in nearly overshadowe dd efending champion A
teneo’s 66-52 conques to f University of Santo Tomas for its eight hs traight victory in the second game.
The results mean tt ha tt he Eagles remained untouchable at the top, bu tt he third to seventh-place dt eams are separated by jus to nev ictory with UST keeping it sp ositio na t No. 3w it h a 4-4 card, while UE forged a tie for sixt h sp ot wit h a 3-5 card.
“Inside the dugou t, t he reminder was thi s was a must-win game for us, ”sa id Suerte i nf ilipino. “We want to give ourselves a chance for af inal Four spot so we have to continue winning.”
“It hink tha tt he players ar ef inally starting to adjust, ” sa id UE coach Bong Tan. “You can’ tr eally blame the players because ,i n the last few seasons ,t hey were accusto med to losi ng. I think the secon dro und will be g ood for uss ince third to sevent h sp ot sa re really close .W e have a chance so we’re trying todot hat.”