ENZO Purugganan catches fire, dropping 15 points with eight steals to lead De La Salle Zobel to an 86-60 win over Adamson in Season 89 UAAP U16 basketball tournament on Friday.
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF UAAP
De La Salle-Zobel (DLSZ) took the early lead in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 89 16U basketball tournament following an 86-60 romp over Adamson University on Friday at the UST Quadricentennial Pavilion.
Coming off an equally impressive 101-83 win over Ateneo de Manila Junior High School last Saturday, the Junior Archers had a balanced attack this time around, with five players scoring in double figures.
Rye Villarruz, who posted 24 points and 11 rebounds against Ateneo, tallied 16 points, eight rebounds, and three blocks against the Baby Falcons.
Enzo Purugganan added 15 points and eight steals, Mikko Noel contributed 12 points, six steals and six rebounds, James Enriquez chipped in 11 points and seven rebounds, while Fonzie Mercado had 10 points to underscore DLSZ’s well-balanced scoring assault.
The Junior Archers are now 2-0 under first-year head coach Hyram Bagatsing as they are determined to rebound from a winless campaign last season.
“Pretty happy. I think we were able to execute more or less what we prepared for. I like the output of everyone — balanced in scoring and sharing the ball. We lessened our turnovers as well,” said Bagatsing, a former member of the Green Archers squad under Franz Pumaren.
Already leading 42-34 at halftime, the Junior Archers turned it up on both ends in the third quarter, holding the Baby Falcons to just 11 points on 38.5 percent shooting.
On the other end, DLSZ intensified its pressing defense, forcing Adamson into nine turnovers during the period that led to 17 points.
Bagatsing said having the Purugganan twins — Enzo and Ice — as holdovers and leaders of the Junior Archers has helped stabilize the squad.
“The veteran presence of the twins really helps stabilize the other guys. It’s a good combination of the new guys and the old ones. It also helped that we were able to prepare longer by joining some preseason leagues,” said Bagatsing, referring to the twins who were part of last season’s 0-14 squad.
Later in the day, the University of Santo Tomas notched its first win after escaping University of the Philippines Integrated School, 86-77.
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