The DLSU Green Archers kept their hot streak alive as they hunted down their longtime fiend from Katipunan, the ADMU Blue Eagles, in a bloody 28-point massacre, 95-67, earlier today, May 4, at the Enderun Colleges.
In his second game playing for the Green-and-White, floor general Jacob Cortez had an all-around showing of 15 points, six rebounds, three assists, and two steals to propel DLSU to victory. Henry Agunanne backed him up by racking up 17 markers on perfect shooting from the field, while Muntinlupa-raised tandem Kevin Quiambao and debuting Kean Baclaan, contributed 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Leading the Katipunan-based squad in double-figures were Ian Espinosa and rookie Kristian Porter who contributed 13 and 11 points, respectively. In his debut for the Blue Eagles, Cebuano standout Jared Bahay chipped in nine points on 30-percent shooting.
Locked and loaded
With both teams boasting prized recruits in a renewed chapter of their classic rivalry, the Green-and-White newcomers played like competent veterans, creating action in the shaded area to grab a 12-7 lead in the first three minutes of play. On the other end of the floor, the length of the La Salle five prevented the Blue Eagles from getting easy buckets in the paint and forced them to settle for outside shots. These defensive stops would lead to fastbreak opportunities for La Salle, who constantly fed 6’11” Agunanne down low, leading to an and-one bucket to put them up by five, 17-12.
As the team from Katipunan limited Quiambao’s scoring opportunities by assigning Chris Koon to bother him, other DLSU players had to step up, which former NU Bulldog playmaker Baclaan calmly answered by swishing back-to-back threes to take a 12-point edge, 26-14. Ending the opening frame, the Taft-based squad’s defense showed some lapses as ADMU’s debuting prized-recruit Bahay found himself open in the corner to fire a triple that cut their deficit to nine, 28-19.
In the second canto, the Green Archers pushed the tempo of the ball game by aggressively drawing fouls and capitalizing on Ateneo’s turnovers. UAAP juniors standout Porter tried to lift his team by causing mayhem in the paint, but his fellow Blue Eagles such as Kyle Gamber and Bahay were seemingly out of rhythm—generating inefficient shots and avoidable turnovers.
Midway through the quarter, Agunanne continued to be a deadly threat as he drew Victor Balogun’s third personal foul and put DLSU up 40-29 on his freebies at the charity stripe. With Agunanne’s limiting presence becoming a focal point for the Blue Eagles, other white shirts were in turn given chances to score as Quiambao’s three-pointers and J. Cortez’s playmaking sparked a dominant 10-0 run to give them a commanding 50-29 lead. Similar to how the opening quarter ended, Bahay once again sank a three to finish the frame, but this time, it was a mere scratch in La Salle’s already picture-perfect game, 50-32.
Dominating inside
With a comfortable lead, the Green Archers continued their dominance as they got inside the paint. Their unselfish play gave Raven Cortez easy looks inside to score six in the first three minutes, while J. Cortez added to the momentum as he banked in two points and scored a freebie, 58-39.
La Salle’s inside presence on both sides proved to be a headache for Ateneo, so the blue shirts tried their perimeter shots to get back in the game. However, the DLSU bigs continued to punish Ateneo’s inside defense as Phillips, Pablo, and Agunanne got to work inside and drew fouls for bonus points to extend the lead to 23 markers, 73-50. With less than two minutes left, Agunanne and EJ Gollena came up with blocks to open up Marasigan for a layup to end the third quarter with a 31-point cushion, 81-50.
Gollena continued his defensive display at the start of the fourth with another block, opening up the floor for Baclaan to orchestrate on the other side, 85-50. The Ateneo seniors tried their best to cut the lead, but Pablo and Jake Gaspay’s inside presence continued to torture Ateneo as they increased the lead to 30 with three and a half minutes to go in the game, 91-61.
With a huge lead, the Green Archers were only left to maintain the large lead as the rivals traded baskets. Koon and Amos looked to make a late run to make the gap respectable, but J. Cortez put the finishing touches on the Green-and-White’s commanding play with back-to-back inside baskets to give his side a 28-point lead in their win, 95-67.
With this victory, the Green Archers improved to a 3-0 record in the Pinoyliga Collegiate Cup. They look to maintain their clean record as they take on the LPU Pirates on Wednesday, May 8, at 4:45 pm at the Amoranto Sports Complex.
The Scores:
DLSU 95 – Agunanne 17, J. Cortez 15, Quiambao 11, Baclaan 10, R. Cortez 9, Pablo 9, M. Phillips 9, Gaspay 6, Marasigan 6, Ogana 2, Gollena 1, Banwait 0, Romero 0, Zamora 0
ADMU 67 – Espinosa 13, Porter 11, Bahay 9, Quitevis 9, Amos 8, Tuaño 6, Koon 5, Gamber 3, Ong 2, Nieto 1, Balogun 0, Carlton 0
Quarter Scores: 28-19, 50-32, 81-50, 95-67
