The DLSU Green Archers maintain their unblemished record in Round One of the UAAP Season 87 Men’s Basketball Tournament after beating the ADMU Blue Eagles in a 13-point trashing, 74-61, earlier tonight, September 15, at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
For the third-straight game, Kevin Quiambao took home the Player of the Game award and tallied a double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds while dishing out seven assists and two steals in the victory against Ateneo. Michael Phillips also added another double-double for La Salle, scoring 13 points and 14 rebounds.
On the side of the Blue Eagles, Shawn Tuano scored 18 points and grabbed six rebounds in the 13-point loss. Meanwhile, Andrew Bongo and Jared Bahay chipped in with nine and eight points, respectively.
Long-time rivalry matchup
After their dominant previous game, the Green Archers opened their showdown against the Blue Eagles with a Jcee Macalalag jumper, making it 2-0. A string of baskets from Macalalag, Earl Abadam, and M. Phillips built a five-point lead for La Salle, 9-4. Despite Ateneo’s young lineup, they came out with a lot of intensity, competing toe-to-toe to fight back against the defending champions.
The team from Taft restored order when reigning MVP Quiambao returned to the court. He made his presence felt with a baseline jumper, extending the lead to three, 17-14. M. Phillips forced a live turnover and converted an emphatic slam, igniting the DLSU crowd with seconds left in the first quarter, 21-16. Bahay of Ateneo sank both free throws to end the quarter, with La Salle still up by three, 21-18.
With both teams acclimated to the intense crowd, the game went back and forth, with each team converting baskets. Quiambao took charge later in the quarter, dishing out slick passes to Henry Agunanne and Raven Gonzales and hitting a three-pointer to build a double-digit lead, 37-25.
Refusing to be blown out, the team from Katipunan fought back, converting defensive stops into layups to cut the lead to seven, 38-31, due to an Andrew Bongo jumper. After struggling to match La Salle’s pace, the Blue Eagles finally came alive and tied the game at 40-all, thanks to a corner three from Waky Espina. M. Phillips ended the first half with a putback from his own missed free throw—restoring a comfortable four-point lead for the Green-and-White entering the halftime break, 44-40.
Green-painted victory
Fresh from the ten-minute break, the scoreboards first moved in the second half care of DLSU, followed by M. Phillips showing off a crossover, 48-42. Adding the needed depth to the roster, Lian Ramiro earned two markers for the Green-and-White. At this point, the Blue Eagles were seen missing shots. The team’s coaching staff questioned a foul called on DLSU, and violent reactions were also heard from the crowd. All of the two free markers given to the Blue team were missed.
M. Phillips exhibited dominance and towered over the flying Blue Eagles with his effective rebounds, forcing quick turnovers. Josh David was raking in three points from beyond the arc, the Lasallian crowd going wild as the gap widened between the two teams. Macalalag fastened the third quarter, 59-44, with Ateneo displaying a low-scoring performance with only three points during this period.
DLSU kickstarted the final quarter of the showdown with an Andrei Dungo layup. After scoring their fifth point in the second half, Ateneo was shunned by Marasigan, upping his team’s numbers. The scene looked good for the Green Archers, their opponents seemingly struggling to get past their pesky plays. From the Blue side, Bahay was seen trying to find a home for Ateneo’s attempts to no avail, lagging by 20 markers.
The final moments of the fourth quarter were slow for the defending champions as they capitalized on the lead they had built earlier. The score was frozen at 72, while Ateneo managed to earn consecutive markers for their team. King Archer Quiambao unfroze the numbers, locking in a final score of 74-61.
After the first Ateneo-La Salle game of the season, Head Coach Topex Robinson revealed their mindset during the heated rivalry matchup, “We stayed disciplined. We made a lot of mistakes along the line [with] 22 turnovers. We have to work on it. Ateneo threw a lot of freak defense on us. Good thing we got our bearings and got the win.”
Bagging his third-straight Player of the Game performance, Quimabo shared, “Ateneo played box-and-one the whole game. Sinabi ko lang sa teammates ko ay be ready lang. Dahil may moments na malilibre, dapat be confident to take that shot.”
(I told my teammates to always be ready. Cause there were moments that they would be open, they should be confident to take that shot.)
After a powerful victory, the DLSU Green Archers will enter the hardcourt as they go head-to-head with the UE Red Warriors next Sunday, September 22, at the same venue.
The Scores:
DLSU 74 – Quiambao 13, M. Philips 13, Macalalaga 9, David 8, Gonzales 7, Gollena 6 Dungo 6, Abadam 6, Ramiro 2, Agunanne 2, Marasigan 2, Konov 0, Rubico 0
ADMU 61 – Tuano 18, Bongo 9, Bahay 8, Porter 8, Espina 6, Lazaro 6, Balogun 3, Quitevis 2, Espinosa 1 Gamber 0, Ong 0
Quarter Scores: 21-18, 44-40, 59-44, 74-61
