On their fourth game of the second round of eliminations, the DLSU Green Archers overpowered the UST Growling Tigers and outscored them, 110-69, earlier today at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City. DLSU now sports a 7-4 win-loss record, maintaining their solo third rank in the standings. On the other hand, UST now has a 5-6 win-loss record, tying them with the FEU Tamaraws and the UP Fighting Maroons at fourth place.
Aljun Melecio and Mark Dyke led the Green Archers in scoring, tallying 22 and 16 points, respectively. Additionally, Andrei Caracut and Jollo Go also scored in double-digits, recording 15 and 14 points, respectively. Justine Baltazar and Encho Serrano also chipped in with 13 points each, bolstering the Green-and-White to their seventh win of the season.
In the losing effort, Marvin Lee led the Growling Tigers’ offense, scoring 26 points, followed by rookie CJ Cansino, who scored 14 points. However, these were not enough to overcome La Salle’s dominance.
Dominant start
In the first 10 minutes of the game, the side from Taft quickly asserted their dominance, making an 8-0 run with field goals through the efforts of Caracut, Dyke, and Baltazar. The Growling Tigers were unable to make a run of their own as La Salle’s defense was clicking, forcing the España-based squad to turn the ball over repeatedly.
For UST, only Cansino was able to make more than one field goal, scoring from a jumper and the bonus free throw at the 8:33 mark and a putback at the 1:18 mark.
The offensive output of the Green Archers was highlighted by Melecio’s back-to-back three-pointers in the 6:54 and 6:19 marks, respectively. With La Salle continuing to score and UST being unable to answer, the first frame ended with the Green-and-White leading, 29-13.
The second quarter of the fixture saw an effort by the Growling Tigers to trim La Salle’s lead down as they started the quarter with a floater and a three-pointer from Zachary Huang and Lee, respectively. However, this run was cut short as UST head coach Aldin Ayo was called for a technical foul, with Melecio making the technical free throw at the 8:55 mark. The Green Archers continued to make field goals while the Growling Tigers scored most of their points from the charity stripe.
The Green Archers showed an all around effort as both the guards and the big men contributed to the scoring output. At the half, the team from Taft recorded 26 perimeter points and 12 points from the inside. The Green-and-White also took care of the basketball, recording only seven turnovers compared to UST’s 15, which La Salle was able to capitalize on as they scored 15 points off turnovers.
Locked and loaded
The third quarter started with the Green Archers continuing their momentum from the previous half, as Caracut and Baltazar gave the team four points to start off the first offensive acts of the quarter. Just right after the run, Leonard Santillan pulled up an easy basket to force the Growling Tigers to call a timeout at the 8:30 mark.
Holding the Growling Tigers to a chokehold early on translated to an easy 11-0 offensive run. At the 7:35 mark of the third period, Santillan split his free throws but grabbed his own offensive rebound and converted an easy two from mid-range. Offensive rebounds were the name of the game as Melecio mimicked the previous play and made an easy three at the 5:40 mark. With the momentum at their hands, Baltazar made easy work of UST’s defense and notched a dunk to force the opponent into another timeout.
Baltazar made no hesitation to stop as he slammed home another dunk to start. On the other hand, Go continued the mayhem after making two in the midrange. After a plethora of shots from the Green Archers, the Growling Tigers found themselves on the board with Batalier’s free throw and Cansino’s dunk. Go answered back with two three-pointers made at the 3:00 mark. Dyke followed up with a fadeaway to supplement DLSU’s lead. On the last moments of the quarter, Melecio and Dyke combined to give the Green Archers another pair of three-pointers. The third quarter concluded with the Green Archers holding the Growling Tigers to just nine points.
Both Dyke and Kib Montalbo opened the fourth quarter with a pair of three-pointers to catch the team from España off guard. Serrano’s valiant efforts were not unnoticed as he found Dyke underneath to convert a basket for La Salle. For some time, the Growling Tigers held their own and converted the affair to make three free throws at the seven minute mark.
DLSU proved to manage well at cold stops as Serrano converts a hook shot at the 5:51 mark of the fourth period to bring his team back to the board. At the 3:33 mark, Caracut proved his offensive skill set as he faced off against Marvin Lee to a shootout; notching a combined six points as to Lee’s five points. At crunch time, the Green Archers aimed to finish the game as peaceful as possible. Serrano worked on a floater to extend the lead to 41. At the last offensive play, Go drew a foul and made the bonus free throw. With the win around the corner, the Green Archers notch the second highest winning margin in the UAAP since 2003 at 41 points, 110-69.
The Green Archers will look to continue their winning streak in a matchup against the NU Bulldogs on Wednesday, November 7, at 4pm at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The scores:
DLSU – Melecio 22, Dyke 16, Caracut 15, Go 14, Baltazar 13, Serrano 13, Santillan 6, Montalbo 4, Manuel 3, Bates 2, Capacio 2, Corteza 0
UST – Lee 26, Cansino 14, Mahinay 5, Marcos 5, Consejo 5, Zamora 4, Bataller 3, Huang 3, Agustin 2, Bonleon 2, Caunan 0, Subido 0
Quarter Scores: 29-13, 50-31, 84-40, 110-69
