Resurging De La Salle University extended its winning streak to four after a dominating 84-72 victory over University of the East in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 88 men’s basketball tournament on Wednesday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
The Green Archers climbed to a share of the second spot with a 6-3 win-loss record tied with defending champion University of the Philippines.
Unlike their first-round matchup, where La Salle needed a massive fourth-quarter rally to edge the Red Warriors 111-110 in overtime, the Taft-based squad took the lead late in the first half and maintained it the rest of the way.
UE blasted a 15-2 run that cut its deficit to 70-77 with under three minutes left after trailing by 20, but failed to trim it any further from there.
“We know it’s going to be a challenging game. We know that this UE team is always going to give their best every time we play against them. I have to give credit to my guys for really being in control of their emotions, especially when UE started to get close,” Green Archers head coach Topex Robinson said.
Luis Pablo led the way for La Salle with 19 points while Mike Phillips had a double-double of 14 markers and 12 rebounds.
Jacob Cortez scored 12 while Doy Dungo listed all of his nine points from the outside on a 3-of-5 three-point shooting for the Green Archers, that pulled down 46 rebounds compared to just 27 by UE and flexed a 20-3 advantage in second chance points.
La Salle erected its biggest lead at 75-55 after Cortez drained a triple with 6:03 left in the game.
The Red Warriors remained listless after nine starts.
John Abate finished with 20 points while Precious Momowei had 20 markers and 10 boards for UE, which is now on the brink of elimination in the Final Four race.
Box scores:
La Salle (84) – Pablo 16, Phillips 14, Cortez 12, Dungo 9, Macalalag 8, Gollena 8, Marasigan 6, Abadam 4, Gomez 3, Daep 2, Quines 2, Nwankwo 0, Dagdag 0, Melencio 0.
UE (72) – Abate 20, Momowei 20, Cruz-Dumont 8, Robles 7, Despi 6, Caoile 4, Lagat 3, Datumalim 2, Cabero 2, Jimenez 0, Tañedo 0, Mulingtapang 0, Malaga 0.
Quarter scores: 25-19, 43-36, 59-50, 84-72