Quiambao fires 33 as La Salle tops Ateneo

Red-hot Kevin Quiambao reached another milestone in leading defending champion De La Salle University to a dominating 80-65 victory over archrival Ateneo de Manila University in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 87 men’s basketball tournament Saturday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

The reigning Most Valuable Player dropped a new career-high 33 points to reset his previous best set 10 days as the Final Four-bound Green Archers won seven in a row for a 10-1 win-loss record.

La Salle completed an elimination round sweep over the Blue Eagles for the first time in 13 years, all thanks to Quiambao’s inspired game.

The Gilas Pilipinas member shot 10-of-22 from the field and pulled down 13 rebounds for the Green Archers, who stepped closer to clinching a semis twice-to-beat advantage.          

“It’s a good win for us but we’re still far from where we want to be,” said Quiambao, who shattered his previous high 29 points with a jumper with 7:18 left in the game.

La Salle was in full control wire-to-wire and even built an 18-point separation, 70-52, with 8:02 left in the fourth quarter after a pair of free throws by EJ Gollena.

Ateneo behind Jared Bahay, Ian Espinosa, Chris Koon and Sean Quitevis rallied to cut the margin down to 64-73 with 3:47 left but Quiambao doused cold water on the Blue Eagles’ scorching run with a two-handed slam.

Joshua David and Gollena added nine markers each while Mike Phillips had a quiet four points but grabbed 13 boards for La Salle, which controlled the boards, 47-28.

The Blue Eagles slid to a 3-7 slate and saw their two-game win run halted.

Bahay recorded a personal-best 22 points but was the only Ateneo player in double figures. Chris Koon scored nine while Kristian Porter and Shaun Tuano had eight each.

The scores:

La Salle (80) --- Quiambao 33, David 9, Gollena 9, Austria 7, Marasigan 7, Macalalag 5, M. Phillips 4, Ramiro 3, Gonzales 2, Dungo 1, Agunanne 0.

Ateneo (65) –-- Bahay 22, Koon 9, Porter 8, Tuano 8, Espinosa 6, Lazaro 6, Quitevis 5, Bongo 1, Balogun 0, Ong 0, Gamber 0, Espina 0.

Quarters: 17-11, 42-33, 63-48, 80-65.