Deschon Winston demonstrated why he can be the spark De La Salle University needs to return to the Final Four after leading this year’s hosts to a 71-66 win over University of the East in the UAAP Season 84 Men’s Basketball Tournament, Saturday evening, at the closed-door SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
Amidst all the hype attached to his name, Winston delivered with 22 points, six rebounds, and three steals.
“Kind of expected what (Deschon) can do,” said La Salle mentor Derrick Pumaren. “Things were not going right for us offensively but he made some big shots at the end. He made a big three that I think gave us separation but he can do a lot of things for us.
“He’s not playing his natural position because of the injury to Joshua David. I had to put him at the wing position,” continued Pumaren as David suffered an ACL injury a week prior to the tournament.
The Red Warriors just would not give up throughout the contest.
Clint Escamis’s free throws cut the Green Archers’ lead to just 61-65 with 3:55 left in the ballgame. However, Nelle’s floater and a Winston three provided a nine-point safety for La Salle at 70-61 with 2:38 to go.
It dampened what was a strong La Salle start to the game at the back of efforts from newcomer guard Winston, who scored eight points in the first quarter to contribute towards a 22-15 edge. The Green Archers’ lead then ballooned to as much as 18 points, 47-29, thanks to a Justine Baltazar basket with seconds left in the second period to close the half with a 47-31 cushion.
Come the third quarter, the Red Warriors were able to cut the deficit to as low as 49-58 thanks to Jose Antiporda’s three. However, a late Kurt Lojera basket allowed the Green Archers to enter the final period with a 60-49 advantage.
“It’s really not a nice win,” lamented Pumaren. “We just have to take it. We still made a lot of mistakes. There are still a lot of things for us to do for us right now. We just have to correct a lot of things. I’ll take the W in tonight’s game.”
Justine Baltazar started his last dance with La Salle with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Evan Nelle produced 11 points and three assists and Bright Nwankwo contributed 10 points and eight rebounds.
La Salle dominated the paint with 48 inside points versus UE’s 20. The Green Archers also had 18 fastbreak points against UE’s 12.
Nico Paranada andHarveye Pagsanjan led UE with 13 points each while Leon Lorenzana chipped in 11 points for the Red Warriors.
Both schools shall resume their respective campaigns on Tuesday at the SM MOA Arena. La Salle (1-0) takes on National University at 4:00 PM while UE (0-1) goes up against Adamson University at 10:00 AM.
The Scores:
DLSU 71 – Winston 22, Baltazar 12, Nelle 11, Nwankwo 10, Lojera 6, Phillips B. 4, Austria 4, Phillips M. 2, Manuel 0, Lim 0.
UE 66 – Paranada N. 13, Pagsanjan 13, Lorenzana 11, Antiporda 6, Sawat 5, Escamis 4, Villanueva 4, Tulabut 3, Paranada K. 2, Catacutan 2, Cruz J. 2, Cruz P. 1, Abatayo 0, Beltran 0.
Quarterscores: 22-15, 47-31, 60-49, 71-66
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