For the opening salvo of the Filoil Flying Preseason Cup presented by Chooks-to-Go, the De La Salle University Green Archers served the University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons a cold-blooded reality check with an 82-79 win, Saturday evening at the Filoil Flying V Centre.
With the victory, La Salle showed that their rebuilding process is on the right track.
“Sa akin bonus lang [yung panalo] eh. Still, it’s really a work in progress,” new head coach Louie Gonzalez said.
In the fourth quarter, La Salle led by 78-68, anchored on Kiwi Taane Samuel’s steady inside presence. UP pulled off a late fury to inch within two, 78-76. After that, both sides exchanged missed shots.
With 11.6 ticks left, Kib Montalbo was fouled and sunk the two ensuing free throws, 80-76. UP’s Diego Dario made a triple to push within one with 4.5 left. Samuel was fouled again, and made both freebies. Within the last 3.1 seconds, Paul Desiderio was hounded by La Salle defenders and was forced to throw a Hail Mary that went wide. That sealed La Salle’s preseason debut with a victory, 82-79.
La Salle’s Justine Baltazar scored the most with 16 points, six rebounds, and three assists. Kiwi student-athlete Samuel added 12 markers, seven rebounds, and two assists.
The two brand new big men from the Archers, Samuels and Brandon Bates, had a stellar showing. Fil-Aussie Bates contributed nine points and was 67 percent from the field.
“They delivered. Actually, I’m not putting a lot of pressure dun sa dalawa [Samuel and Bates] kasi hindi lang naman yung adjustment dito sa Pilipinas yung nangyayari sa dalawa, even yung adjustment sa game,” Gonzalez added.
Sophomore Juan Gomez de Liano paced UP with 21 points, 12 coming from downtown. Senior Diego Dario chipped in 16 points.
UP, now at 0-1 in Group A, will seek a bounce back win immediately tomorrow as they face the Mapua University Cardinals at 12:30. La Salle will meet the Gilas Cadets next on April 27, 6:30pm.
The Scores:
DLSU 82 – Baltazar 16, Samuel 12, Caracut 11, Santillan 9, Montalbo 9, Bates 9, Melecio 8, Corteza 4, Go 3, Dyke 1, Capacio 0.
UP 79 – Gomez de Liano Ju. 21, Dario 16, Akhuetie 12, Desiderio 9, Vito 8, Gomez de Liano Ja. 15, Jaboneta 3, Manzo 2, Murell 1, Prado 0, Tungcab 0, Gozum 0, Lim 0.
Quarterscores: 20-15, 36-36, 58-52, 82-79.
