No Jeron Teng, no Aldin Ayo, no problem.
The first encounter of the De La Salle University Green Archers and the Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles was a completely one-sided affair.
After pounding Ateneo by a combined 47 points during the Premier Cup last summer, the Green Archers once again bullied the Blue Eagles in a 97-81 thrashing in front of 16,212 fans at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
The defense was too much, the offense was too crisp, while the talent discrepancy was far off, as it propelled the Green Archers to their seventh straight win in as many games to sweep the first round of the men’s basketball tournament.
“This game is a testament of what coach Aldin [Ayo] taught this players,” assistant coach Louie Gonzalez, who was taking over for Ayo due to a one-game suspension, said. “It’s just being responsible. Naging responsible sila buong game and we didn’t have any problems.”
“Kahit anong ipagawa namin, kahit mahirap, kahit pagod na sila, they still submit to the coaching staff and hininingi ng coaches”
Big man Ben Mbala led the way once again. The Cameroonian big man had 28 points, 13 rebounds, five steals, and a swat. At rate that he is going, he may be the runaway winner for this season’s most valuable player crown.
“I was kind of eager. I want to make the most out of it. I wanna make sure, they remember the guy who was out for three years,” said Mbala, who was making his Ateneo-La Salle derby debut.
Moreover, he also turned the court into a theater, as he scintillated the crowd with two highlight dunks.
Ateneo held a 26-20 lead early in the second quarter before La Salle broke the game wide open, as the league-leaders went on a 21-3 blitz led by Mbala and sophomore Andrei Caracut in just a span of three minutes. By halftime, the game had already been decided with La Salle up 53-36.
Caracut, who had dropped nine points in La Salle’s game against the University of the East, finished the game with 14 points, 11 in the second frame.
The lead eventually grew to a game-high 27 points, 85-58, after a lay-up by Mbala early in the fourth quarter. Prior to that play, Ateneo skipper had been assessed with an unsportmanlike foul after a hard foul on the leading MVP candidate.
When the smoke had cleared, every Green Archer fielded was able to score in the game. Even rookies Brent Paraiso and Mark Dyke were able to score their first UAAP points.
“Without coach being there and Jeron, it’s a test for us to show what we can do,” Mbala said about the fluidity the team, who did not have second leading scorer Jeron Teng, had displayed. “I’m really proud of how the guys played as we stuck together. We did it for coach. He isn’t there but he had our backs the last game.”
The Green Archers dominated their rivals across the board. They had more rebounds, 49 to 41, and were able to steal the ball 16 times. Moreover, they were able to force Ateneo to 30 turnovers, scoring 33 points off of it.
Adrian Wong was the high-point man for the Blue Eagles with 15 points, but was just 4-of-12 from the field. Matt Nieto added 13 points, while Thirdy Ravena finished the game with a double-double, 11 points and 11 rebounds.
Ateneo shot 45 percent from the field compared to 42 percent for the victors, but the latter had 83 field goal attempts in the game.
The Green Archers end the first round with an unblemished 7-0 record, while the Blue Eagles drop to fourth place with a 4-3 slate.
“Hindi naman nag-cross sa mind namin ang mag-sweep. Tulad nga ng sabi ni coach, di pa kami buo. Every gme may bagong challenge sa team. Nag-rerespond kami. Every game nag-iimprove,” Gonzales saiz about the possibility of a sweep.
The Scores:
DLSU (97) – Mbala 28, Caracut 14, Tratter 10, Torres 8, Montalbo 8, Rivero R. 8, Melecio 5, Perkins 5, Dyke 4, Baltazar 2, Go 2, Paraiso 2, Rivero P. 1, Sargent 0.
ADMU (81) – Wong 15, Nieto Ma. 13, Asistio 11, Ravena 11, Mendoza 9, Ikeh 7, Porter 6, Go 5, Babilonia 2, Nieto Mi. 2, Tolentino 0, Verano 0.
Quarterscores: 20-20, 53-36, 80-58, 97-81.
