The De La Salle University Green Archers could not get things going Friday afternoon, as they were booted out of the 2018 BLIA University Basketball Cup by Azusa Pacific University, 59-76, at the Kaohsiung Arena in Taiwan.
The Green Archers needed to win this game to advance to the crossover semifinals. However, a loss to hearbreaking 86-87 loss to Jianxing University made this game a must-win.
However, the defending champions struggled to find their groove all through the contest.
La Salle started off the contest scoring just eight points in the first 10 minutes of the contest. The struggled continued in the second frame as the Green Archers faced a double-digit lead entering the second half.
As a team, La Salle went just 19-of-68 from the field.
The lead would only go to as low as 15 points the rest of the way.
Taane Samuel had 12 points in the contest but only grabbed two rebounds. Fellow big man Justine Baltazar did not fare any better as he was limited to just eight points on just 2-of-10 shooting while tallying eight rebounds.
Aljun Melecio, on the other hand, could not find his range from downtown — going just 4-for-16 from the field for 10 markers.
The Scores:
DLSU 59 – Samuel 12, Melecio 10, Go 8, Baltazar 8, Capacio 8, Bates 6, Caracut 4, Manuel 3, Lim 0, Dyke 0, Corteza 0.
Azusa Pacific 76 –
Quarterscores: 8-16, 20-35, 34-58, 59-76.
