In a contest between two runners-up in their respective tournaments, UAAP Men’s Basketball silver medalists De La Salle University Green Archers were dealed with a tough lesson by Big West Tournament runners-up UC Irvine Anteaters, 58-102, Wednesday afternoon at the Student Gymnasium in South Korea.
This is La Salle’s first loss in the 2018 Asia-Pacific University Basketball Challenge, falling to 2-1. UC Irvine lead the tournament with a 3-0 slate. The team with the best record by the end of the tournament will be declared the champion.
After keeping close with the Anteaters during the opening 10 minutes of the contest, the Green Archers struggled to find their shot in the second frame. Aljun Melecio scored all five points of La Salle during the quarter as UC-Irvine was able to blow the game wide open.
Melecio led La Salle with 14 markers.
La Salle had a better showing in the third canto behind the 10 points of Justine Baltazar. However, UC Irvine proved to be too much, leading by as much as 47 points, 98-51, with 2:13 left.
Team captain Kib Montalbo scored eight of his 10 points in the final stanza.
Third-year forward John Edgar Jr. led UC-Irvine with 22 points. Collin Welp and Brad Greene added 19 and 18 points respectively.
La Salle only shot 29 percent from the field while committing 18 errors. In comparison, UC-Irvine had a field day, shooting 51 percent from the field, while only having nine turnovers.
The Green Archers look to bounce back on Friday, August 10 when they take on Russia-select at 4:30pm.
The Scores:
DLSU 58 – Melecio 14, Montalbo 10, Baltazar 10, Samuel 8, Dyke 6, Santillan 5, Bates 5, Serrano 0, Go 0, Manuel 0, Corteza 0.
UC-Irvine 102 – Edgar 22, Welp 19, Greene 18, Butler 13, Galloway 9, Cartwright 8, Worku 6, Jones 4, Cole 3.
Quarterscores: 18-24, 23-55, 39-80, 58-102.
