Behind a huge fourth quarter explosion by King Archer Kib Montalbo, the De La Salle University Green Archers took a 94-90 come-from-behind win against a Chinese-Taipei selection squad, Monday afternoon in Korea.
With the win, the Green Archers are now 2-0 in the 2018 Asia-Pacific University Basketball Challenge. And it would not have been possible without the efforts of Montalbo and Justine Baltazar.
Early in the second half, La Salle faced a 41-53 deficit. But Baltazar carried the Green Archers on his shoulders, scoring 13 of his game-high 28 points to chip into the lead and tie things up at 67-all entering the final frame.
On top of his 28 points, Baltazar added 13 rebounds and five steals to his statline.
The Green Archers then went on a fourth quarter flurry that saw Montalbo, Jollo Go, and Joaqui Manuel fire off triples to keep pace with the hot hands of Lin Ting-Chien.
Montalbo then took over, scoring on a breakaway layup to cut the lead to just one with 3:08 left. Baskets by Taane Samuel and Baltazar gave La Salle the edge seconds later.
The graduating senior from Bacolod then pickpocketed a Taiwanese player with 1:22 left to give the Green Archers a 92-86 lead. Pressure-packed free throws from Montalbo and Samuel sealed the win.
By the end of his fiery run, Montalbo scored 13 of 16 points in the final frame to go along with eight rebounds and seven assists.
Samuel added 15 markers and six boards, while an aggressive Go had 14 points, eight coming from the foul stripe.
Lin led the Chinese-Taipei-select team with 23 points. Chen Yu-Jui had 14 markers but was shut down in the final frame.
La Salle will have a one-day break before taking on the UC Irvine Anteaters on Wednesday, August 8.
The Scores:
DLSU 94 – Baltazar 28, Montalbo 16, Samuel 15, Go 14, Manuel 7, Santillan 6, Serrano 4, Melecio 4, Bates 0, Dyke 0, Capacio 0.
Chinese-Taipei 90 – Lin T 23, Chen 14, Hsu 12, Lin C 9, Chou 7, Lin K 7, Wang 6, Lu 5, Sun 4, Luo 3.
Quarterscores: 16-20, 41-51, 67-67, 94-90
