LA Salle tightened its grip on a spot in the top half of the UAAP Season 81 standings as it made short work of University of the East, 79-59, on Wednesday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Encho Serrano and Andrei Caracut bannered a strong third-quarter finish for the Green Archers, who tied the FEU Tamaraws at third with a 5-3 record, while keeping a safe distance from the streaking UST Tigers who are at fifth place with a 4-4 record.
The two joined forces in the late quarter run, scoring 15 where the Green Archers outscored the Red Warriors, 17-3, to end the quarter.
“Going to this game, I told them sa ngayon with the situation right now sa standings, every win counts. So I told them, kahit sino ang kalaban namin, we need to put on the work,” said La Salle head coach Louie Gonzales.
“Napakalaking panalo sa amin especially with the schedule. Good thing these two (Serrano and Caracut) showed up today,” he added.
Serrano led the way for La Salle with his best performance of the season with 18 points, six rebounds and two steals as Caracut also had a season high 16 points with six boards.
Santi Santillan added 13 points, seven rebounds as Justine Baltazar finished with 12 points and seven boards.
Not even another monster game from Alvin Pasaol could save the Red Warriors as they dropped to 1-7.
Pasaol had 22 points and 17 rebounds.
The scores:
La Salle 79 – Serrano 18, Caracut 16, Santillan 13, Baltazar 12, Melecio 8, Montalbo 3, Manuel 3, Bates 2, Dyke 2, Corteza 2, Go 0, Capacio 0.
UE 59 – Pasaol 22, Conner 12, Varilla 7, Bartolome 6, Cullar 3, Antiporda 3, Manalang 2, Acuno 2, Sobrevega 2, Guion 0, Gagate 0, Beltran 0, Lacap 0, Strait 0.
Quarterscores: 21-16; 47-36; 66-49; 79-59.