Newcomer Mark Nonoy and senior big man Justine Baltazar combined in the dying stages to drag De La Salle University towards a 59-55 win over National University in the UAAP Season 84 Men’s Basketball Tournament, Tuesday evening, at the closed-door SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
After three quarters that saw both schools just separated by a point heading into the final period, La Salle finally secured some separation from NU, 56-49, with 3:27 left in the ballgame after four unanswered points from captain Baltazar and a big three from the debuting Nonoy.
NU’s Michael Malanzo kept La Salle honest with a stab underneath the basket to trim the deficit to 52-56 with 39 seconds left in the game. However, Baltazar retaliated for the Green Archers with an and-1 play to extend their cushion to 59-52.
“Things were not going right for us,” admitted La Salle coach Derrick Pumaren. “We lost focus. We lost our concentration. We made a lot of mistakes. I think we really worked hard for this win. The boys really dug deep just to win this ballgame.”
Fifth-year Bulldogs guard Enzo Joson sunk a three to bring NU within 55-59 with 8.2 seconds left in the contest but the Green Archers held on for the win.
“If things aren’t going right for us on offense, we just have to (focus on) defense,” added Pumaren. “We just have to play really tough defense. We forced them into turnovers and we were able to get back into the ballgame.”
Nonoy and Baltazar both led La Salle with 13 points each with the former adding four rebounds, four assists, and three steals while the latter seized seven rebounds. Rookie CJ Austria also had his best game as a Green Archer yet with 10 points and Michael Phillips was able to seize 11 rebounds.
La Salle had 29 bench points over NU’s 16 and shot eight-out-of-14 from beyond the arc compared to the latter’s four-out-of-14.
Malonzo led the Bulldogs with 10 points followed by Enzo Joson’s nine points. Rookie Jake Figueroa flirted with a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds.
Both teams shall next play this Thursday at the SM MOA Arena. La Salle (2-0) takes on Far Eastern University at 1:00 PM while NU (1-1) goes up against University of the Philippines at 4:00 PM.
The Scores:
DLSU 59 – Nonoy 13, Baltazar 13, Austria 10, Lojera 7, Manuel 6, Nelle 5, Phillips M. 3, Winston 2, Nwankwo 0, Phillips B. 0, Cuajao 0, Cortez 0, Macalalag 0.
NU 55 – Malonzo 10, Joson 9, Figueroa 9, Clemente 9, Mahinay 6, Enriquez 4, Tibayan 4, Gaye 2, Felicilda 2, Galinato 0, Ildefonso 0, Torres 0, Yu 0, Manansala 0, Minerva 0.
Quarterscores: 19-16, 29-30, 42-43, 59-55.
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