KIB Montalbo wasn’t the player who took the spotlight for De La Salle in his debut in the Filoil Flying V Hanes Premier Cup opener.
Jason Perkins did.
The Fil-American notched 17 points and 13 rebounds to help La Salle earned a come-from-behind 73-67 win over University of Santo Tomas on Saturday in the preseason tournament on Saturday at The Arena in San Juan.
Perkins, a 20-year-old playing in his first Filoil game after completing a one-year residency, helped the Green Archers launch a 15-5 wind-up to overcame UST’s seven-point lead in the third period.
La Salle overcame a 38-45 deficit midway in the third quarter.
“I guess we were kinda tight,” said La Salle coach Gee Abanilla. “We can’t really execute well. Too excited I guess.”
Abanilla was all praises for Perkins, who already played for the Green Archers’ Team B.
“I think I really admire the way he played especially being aggressive on the floor, rebounding, and doing the dirty job,” said Abanilla.
During that game-changing run, Perkins scored the tying and go-ahead baskets for a 64-62 lead. Jeron Teng made it 67-62 with 2:29 remaining in the fourth.
Aljon Mariano ended UST’s drought with a basket but that was followed by back-to-back scores by Perkins and Jarelan Tampus.
Jeric Teng and Mariano scored the bulk of the points for UST with 31 and 28 each. Karim Abdul, Edcor Marata and Kevin Ferrer combined for eight for last year's UAAP runner-up.
Montalbo, who just joined the team’s practices less than a week ago, played for six minutes and scored a lone triple.
Abanilla’s fellow assistant coach at Petron, UST coach Pido Jarencio, skipped the game to join the Blaze Boosters in a PBA game against Air21.
“Andito kasi si Boss,” Abanilla said in jest, referring to team patron and San Miguel Corporation chairman Eduardo ‘Danding’ Cojuangco. “ Si Coach Pido naman, bihira talaga magpunta sa Filoil.”
The scores:
DLSU (73) – Perkins 17, G. Reyes 13, Teng 10, Vosotros 10, N. Torres 6, T. Torres 4, Tampus 4, Montalbo 3, Van Opstal 2, Bolick 2, Haruna 2, Andrada 0, Paredes 0, M. Reyes 0.
UST (67) – Teng 31, Mariano 28, Abdul 3, Marata 3, Ferrer 2, Daquioag 0, Pe 0, Lo 0, Sheriff 0, Bautista 0, Hainga 0, Tan 0, Vigil 0.
Quarterscores: 10-16; 34-34l 51-57; 73-67.
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