UNIVERSITY of the East stopped its three-game losing streak with an 81-51 victory over cellar-dwelling University of Santo Tomas in the UAAP Season 85 men's basketball tournament on Wednesday at Mall of Asia Arena.
CJ Payawal uncorked all of his 17 points in the second half, on top of eight rebounds and five assists as the Red Warriors improved to 4-5.
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Luis Villegas set the tone for the 30-point blowout where he fired 13 of his 16 points in the first half, together with four boards and two blocks.
UE held UST to just nine points in the second frame to build a 45-23 halftime edge, before Harvey Pagsanjan gave the Warriors their biggest lead at 34, 81-47, after a three with 43.1 seconds left.
"Ang instruction ko to the boys is to not make the game close. If we can break away right away, mas maganda sa amin," said coach Jack Santiago, praising his team's 35 bench points and 22 points off turnovers.
"I'm so happy with their performance especially from the guys coming off the bench. It helps a lot sa team namin just to give Luis a better time to rest. It's a team effort really."
UST stumbled to its seventh straight defeat to start the second round despite Adama Faye's 23 points and 18 rebounds.
Miguel Pangilinan had eight points and seven rebounds, as Nic Cabanero shot 2-of-15 from the field to end up with seven points and four boards, while committing four of the team's 17 turnovers.
The scores:
UE 81 - Payawal 17, Villegas 16, Tulabut 8, Sawat 6, Antiporda 6, N. Paranada 6, Remogat 5, K. Paranada 4, Stevens 4, Pagsanjan 3, Beltran 3, Guevarra 3, Abatayo 0, Langit 0.
UST 51 - Faye 23, Pangilinan 8, Cabanero 7, Manalang 4, Manaytay 4, Escobido 2, Lazarte 2, Valentin 1, Calimag 0, Garing 0, Gesalem 0, Duremdes 0.
Quarterscores: 25-14; 45-23; 60-36; 81-51.
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