LA SALLE came out of halftime guns blazing, burying University of the East in a barrage of threes for a 100-91 decision, Sunday at the Playtime Cares Filoil Centre in San Juan.
Riding their 43-point third quarter, the Green Archers stayed spotless through five games in the Playtime Cares Filoil EcoOil 18th Preseason Cup presented by ABC Tile Adhesive and are now one win away from the top seed out of the UAAP Group.
Down four, 39-43, at halftime, La Salle came alive from beyond the arc with a total of 11 treys in the third. Mason Amos hit two during their massive 35-7 surge that, all of a sudden, sent them in front, 74-50, late in the period.
"We just went back to how we play. The team that I saw in the first half, that wasn't us, so we just went back to us," said head coach Topex Robinson.
The Red Warriors couldn't recover from there and only got to trim their deficit to single-digits in the dying seconds.
Amos wound up with 13 points, five assists, and three rebounds, as four other Green Archers also ended in double-digits in Luis Pablo (14), Jacob Cortez (11), Mikey Cortez (11), and Andrei Dungo (10).
In all, La Salle converted 18 of its 39 attempts from deep and counted a total 11 players who had at least one make.
The Green Archers have one last assignment in the elimination round, a face-off with 4-1 University of Santo Tomas that will determine the top spot in the UAAP Group of the tourney which has PlayTime Cares, Filoil, EcoOil, Hanes, Bostik El Heneral, Jiang Nan Hotpot, Lamtex Pipes, Smart, and Puso Pilipinas as major sponsors, and Harbor Star, Wallem, Akari, BDO, Tela.com Athletics, Nature’s Spring, Reyes Barbecue, and Brothers Burger as minor sponsors.
On the other hand, UE went out winless in its first campaign under new shot-caller Chris Gavina. Precious Momowei paced their latest loss with a 23-point, 13-rebound double-double.
San Beda stays hot
Meanwhile, in a battle between already-eliminated teams, San Beda sank Lyceum, 76-70.
Yukien Andrada waxed hot with 21 points, including four triples, to go with nine rebounds, while Janti Miller posted 14 markers and 12 boards in the Red Lions' third win in the last four games, and fourth overall out of eight.
San Beda was made to work for it, however, as it saw its once-11-point lead at the 4:18 mark of the final frame cut to just five, 75-70, with 12 seconds left. Sent to the line, Miller split his free throws before he and his teammates denied the Pirates any good looks as time expired.
The Red Lions now turn their attention to a rivalry game with Letran on Wednesday. While that will be a no-bearing game for the former, the latter still needs a win to wrap up the No. 1 spot coming out of the NCAA bracket.
Lyceum, meantime, dropped to 1-7 despite the best efforts of Renz Villegas, John Barba, and JM Bravo who each scored 10.
The Scores:
Third Game
SAN BEDA 76 - Andrada 21, Miller 14, Gonzales 13, Lina 7, Culdora 7, Calimag Ri 5, Calimag RC 3, Vailoces 3, Hawkins 2, Celzo 1, Estacio 0, Songcuya 0, Bonzalida 0, Jamora 0
LYCEUM 70 - Villegas 10, Barba 10, Bravo 10, Montano 9, Daileg 7, Panelo 6, Penafiel 5, Versoza 5, Aviles 2, Casino 2, Moralejo 2, Almario 2, Paulo 0, Aurigue 0
Quarters: 21-17, 41-35, 59-56, 76-70
Fourth Game
LA SALLE 100 - Pablo 14, Amos M 13, Cortez J 11, Cortez M 11, Dungo 10, Abadam 9, Baclaan 8, Macalalag 8, Phillips 3, Melencio 3, Dagdag 3, Amos C 3, Sarmiento 2, Alian 2, Nwankwo 0, Zamora 0
UE 91 - Momowei 23, Lingolingo 19, Datumalim 12, Cruz-Dumont 10, Abate 8, Mulingtapang 8, Lagat 5, Distrito 3, Go 3, Despi 0, Cabero 0, Fong 0
Quarters: 18-23, 39-43, 82-64, 100-91
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
