La Salle escapes Pasaol’s 49 points to retain solo second
By Maxine Louise Lagman
4 October 2017
The De La Salle University hands University of the East another loss after overcoming Alvin Pasaol’s leadership with a 106-100 win on Wednesday in the UAAP Season 80 men’s basketball tournament at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Pasaol exploded 49 points on top of eight rebounds, which is the most points made in 15 years after National University Coach Jeff Napa tallied 43 points in 2002.
However, it was still not enough to drive the Red Warriors to victory.
Most Valuable Player Ben Mbala also broke his personal record and finished with 39 points on 10-for-12 shooting, along with 15 rebounds, two assists and two blocks while Abu Tratter helped La Salle with another double-double record of 24 markers and 10 boards.
The Red Warriors, however, was able to take control of the game and outscored the Green Archers in the final four minutes of the game, 25-6.
“For the 36 minutes of the game, we played really good except for the last four minutes. Siguro factor na rin na we were up by 25 points, so medyo nag-relax kami doon,” said La Salle Assistant Coach Miggy Solitaria.
It was Andrei Caracut’s triple that extended La Salle’s lead to as much as 25 points, 100-75.
Mark Olayon was able to cut the deficit to only seven, 104-97, but Tratter’s tip-in later in the game sealed the win.
La Salle’s win lifted them to a 5-1 record and retains solo second, while UE dropped to a 0-6 card and tied with University of Santo Tomas at the bottom of the standings.
Caracut added 11 points for the win.
Meanwhile, Philip Manalang added 14 points, while Olayon chipped in 13 in the losing effort.
The Scores:
DLSU 106 – Mbala 39, Tratter 24, Caracut 11, Rivero P 8, Rivero R 8, Montalbo 5, Santillan 4, Paraiso 3, Tero 2, Baltazar 2, Capacio 0, Go 0, Gonzales 0
