The DLSU Green Archers dismantled the St. Dominic Pikemen with an 86-73 victory and advances to the semifinals in the Pinoyliga Next Man Cup earlier tonight, April 12, at the Enderun Colleges.
Bright Nwankwo was the Player of the Game, filling up the stat sheet with a double-double performance of 14 points, 12 rebounds, and six blocks. Also chiming in were Jacob Cortez with an 18-point outing and Kean Baclaan with a double-double performance of his own, tallying 17 points and 10 assists.
Meanwhile, St Dominic’s Edward Daquiaog lit it up from three-point range, leading with a game-high 24 points, while Joseph Timtiman and Jay De Manuel chipped in with 19 and 10 points, respectively.
Relentless shots
The Green Archers opened up the first quarter with a barrage of points inside the paint. Nwankwo put up the first points, converting an and-one play as he was later backed up by the relentless inside plays of Cortez and Baclaan. Daquiaog powered St. Dominic by responding with consecutive jumpers from outside. But Nwankwo continued to make his presence felt on the defensive end, blocking and contesting shots that allowed DLSU to inflate the lead even further midway through the first, 13-4. Cortez also exploded with quick back-to-back jumpers, adding more points to his tally in quick succession before the Pikemen attempted to close the gap with a three-pointer by De Manuel. Nwankwo then dominated on both ends as a two-way machine whilst Ethan Alian created shot opportunities by the wing, along with another and-one play in the paint by Luis Pablo. La Salle capped off the first quarter with a smooth pull-up jumper along the baseline by Alian, extending the lead to double digits, 31-19.
Following the first quarter, the Green Archers continued their relentlessness to begin the second. Alian got an early steal and nifty finish off the turnover, followed by a drive and an assist to a cutting Nwankwo for an emphatic dunk to inflate the lead to 16, 35-19. St. Dominic ended the early scoring drought with three-pointers. DLSU made consecutive costly turnovers, which the Pikemen capitalized on with back-to-back jumpers to close the gap. La Salle tried to rally back and went inside to protect their lead. However, the Pikemen then continued their scoring run, with Alauran Howard and Ken Alvaran responding to continue their hot streak from the perimeter and made the Green Archers struggle to defend the bombardment of threes. Dominic Sarmiento responded for the Green-and-White as he got on the board with a timely three-pointer nearing the end of the second quarter, only for Daquiaog to create another three-pointer to close the gap. DLSU ended the first half with a six-point lead, 50-44.
Taking control
The Green Archers opened the third quarter, continuing to capitalize on their size advantage as Nwankwo started the scoring for the Taft-based squad with a putback basket. Baclaan backed him up with a three-pointer off the wing to increase the lead back to double-digits, 55-44. St. Dominic answered back with a three of their own from Daquiaog. The Pikemen would capitalize with Timtiman’s pull-up jumper and a top of the key three-pointer from Daquioag to cap off an 8-0 run to cut their deficit to three, 55-52. With the Pikemen being hot from beyond the arc, Santi Romero checked in for Nwankwo in hopes of containing their three-pointing shooting. Both squads forced each other to turnovers in consecutive possessions with Pablo taking advantage and sent a full-court pass to Alian for the open layup. With Nwankwo off the floor, De Manuel attacked the basket strongly to keep the Pikemen within striking distance, 62-57. The Green Archers displayed good ball movement but would struggle from the field in consecutive possessions. Alian would break their cold streak with an and-one putback shot and make his free throw attempt. In the closing minutes of the quarter, Pablo would add a highlight of his own with a posterizer over two defenders but was called for a technical foul for taunting. Chad Amante’s open layup closed the quarter as the Green Archers held on to a six-point advantage, 67-61.
La Salle once again attacked the paint to open the quarter with consecutive points coming from Pablo and Nwankwo to extend the lead back to double-digits, 71-61. The following possession would lead to a setback for La Salle after an ankle injury was dealt to Andrei Dungo after a collision with Nwankwo. Despite this, the Green Archers displayed their defensive prowess to hold the Pikemen scoreless for two minutes. Nwankwo continued to showcase his interior defense with a block, however, Alvaran would capitalize on a putback to end the Pikemen’s scoreless stint. La Salle continued to take control of the game, with Baclaan adding five consecutive points from an isolation play and a three-pointer off the wing, 78-63. St. Dominic answered with consecutive points of their own with a layup from Aaron Dajao and an and-one basket from Daquiaog, 78-67. Hindering the Pikemen to capitalize on the momentum, La Salle displayed good ball movement to open up Cortez for a corner three. DLSU continued to cruise through the quarter with consecutive baskets from Cortez and Alian, 85-70. The last two minutes of the quarter saw the Pikemen tighten up on their defensive end. Despite the 15-point deficit, the Pikemen continued to be aggressive, continuing to attack the paint to earn trips to the charity stripe. The closing moments of the game would see consecutive penalty baskets for both sides as the Green Archers triumphed over the Pikemen to advance to the semifinals, 86-73.
The Taft-based squad kept their perfect record in the tournament after this victory. They now patiently wait for their semifinal opponent which will come from the winner of the do-or-die matchup between the Guang Ming Flying Dragons and the EAC Generals.
The Scores:
DLSU 86 – Alian 18, Cortez 18, Baclaan 17, Pablo 15, Nwankwo 14, Sarmiento 3, Romero 1, Dungo 0, Zamora 0
St. Dominic 73 – Daquiaog 24, Timtiman 19, De Manuel 10, Alvaran 8, Amante 6, Dajao 4, Howard 2, Emerciana 0, Fernandez 0, Isaac 0, Sabayo 0
Quarter Scores: 31-19, 50-44, 67-61, 86-73
