THE DE La Salle Green Archers secured a stunning 88-79 triumph over the league-leading UP Fighting Maroons in the UAAP Season 86 Men’s Basketball Tournament at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
The Green Archers were led by MVP frontrunner Kevin Quiambao in front of over 13,400 fans, allowing the Taft-based club to avoid a second-half meltdown and hand the Fighting Maroons their second loss of the season.
Photo Courtesy: UAAP Media Group
The Green Archers were firing on all cylinders from the start, going on a 10-0 run to conclude the first quarter, 22-14. The Fighting Maroons leveled the game at 27-27 after a Janjan Felicida drive to the basket with 5:50 left in the second quarter.
The Green Archers regained the lead, 39-51, with Evan Nelle’s 10-point second quarter, and finished the first half with a comfortable advantage.
La Salle was then caught off-guard after blowing a 14-point lead, as the Fighting Maroons rallied in the fourth quarter to take the upper hand, 75-74, on a CJ Cansino layup with 4:45 remaining.
This was when the 6’8” Quiambao showed why he is the leading MVP candidate, going on a 10-2 run in the final four minutes to bring down the Katipunan-based squad, 84-77.
After hitting a long two with barely 45 seconds remaining in the game, UP’s Cansino attempted to cut the lead down to five. La Salle was able to milk as much time as they could before Nelle responded with a banked dagger trey, the lone field goal that Cansino and Quiambao did not make in the final five minutes.
“We know coming into this game, UP is gonna be the barometer of this season. We tried to remind everybody that this is a test of how far we’ve come as a team,” said Green Archers head coach Topex Robinson.
“We had a chance the last time we played them in the first round, but things didn’t go our way. We just came here trying to be the better version of ourselves. The challenge for the players is to step up, together we can do great things, and this afternoon, these guys really [showed] that they are competitors.”
Quiambao had 22 points, 12 rebounds, three steals and two assists in the game. Despite dropping another MVP number, the sophomore forward clarified that these figures should be attributed to the coaching staff’s system.
“Itong mga stats na ito, galing lang sa system ni coach. Dinodoble ko lang yung effort ko, trust the system lang. Ayun, kung ano ‘yung flow, kung flow ko ba talaga, hindi ko pinipilit dumating ‘tong mga stats na ‘to,” said Quiambao, who was chanted as “MVP” by fans throughout the game.
Nelle had 17 points, six rebounds and four assists, while Jonnel Policarpio and Francis Escandor each had 11 points. Policarpio also dished out five assists and grabbed eight rebounds.
Mike Phillips, the Green Archers’ hyper-athletic forward, also returned after missing the previous two games due to an ankle injury, posting a double-double of 15 points and 12 rebounds.
The Fighting Maroons were without key players JD Cagulangan and reigning MVP Malick Diouf. The point guard was out for the second straight game with a hamstring issue, while the reigning MVP was absent due to a wrist injury.
Cansino contributed 20 points and five rebounds, while Janjan Felicilda contributed 13 points, nine rebounds and five assists.
This is the Taft-based squad’s fourth straight win after defeating another powerhouse in National University last week, as they continue to seek the top two spot in the UAAP Season 86 Men’s Basketball Tournament.
La Salle hopes to make five straight wins over Adamson University, while UP looks to bounce back against University of the East, which is coming off a strong win against the FEU Tamaraws. Both games will be held at the SMART Araneta Coliseum on Wednesday.
