DLSU DOWNS NU, MOVES FOUR WINS AWAY FROM ELIMS SWEEP
By Maxine Louise Lagman
19 October 2016
THE DE La Salle University Green Archers moved four victories away from sweeping the UAAP basketball tournament elimination round after defeating the National University Bulldogs, 113-88 on Wednesday at the Filoil Arena.
Despite scoring behind early in the contest, 14-4, DLSU turned the game around and rallied hard to end with a one-point lead, 24-23 in the first half and never looked back the rest of the way.
Rookie Aljun Melecio became the key player for the Green Archers and ignited the team to display once again, ‘mayhem’ basketball against the Bulldogs. Melecio scored 13 of his 18 points in the first half, which helped DLSU blow away their 10-point deficit.
Melecio said that their team is happy about the win, however, they would not rest on their laurels and would keep on fighting hard for another win.
The collective effort of the team led them to improve to a clean slate 10-0, while NU, despite shooting better from the field against DLSU with 52 percent, fell to 4-6 in the league standings.
DLSU surpassed their 100-point record against UST in the first round, and had a new record that topped the most points scored in the UAAP season.
Ben Mbala led the DLSU with a double-double 29 points and 14 rebounds, while Melecio ended with 18 points. Jeron Teng and Thomas Torres added 13 and 12 points respectively, to cap off the game with another victory.
Rev Diputado’s 23 points and J-jay Alejandro’s 17 points were put to waste once again, as they fell to their fourth consecutive loss in the second round of the tournament.
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