La Salle shreds UST by 41 points

ANTIPOLO, Philippines – In one stretch, La Salle  built a whopping 48-point advantage over the University of Santo Tomas.

That’s how dominant La Salle turned out all game as the Green Archers flat-out embarrassed the UST Growling Tigers with a 110-69 rout in the UAAP Season 81 men’s basketball tournament at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City on Saturday, November 3.

Aljun Melecio waxed hot with a season-high 22 points plus 6 assists and 5 rebounds as the Green Archers set the tone for the 41-point wrecking right in the 1st quarter.

Mark Dyke also added a career-high 16 points to go with 6 boards for La Salle.

It was the second most lopsided game in the league since La Salle also whipped UST by 43 points, 99-56, on October 23, 2016. 

With the win, the Archers handily evaded entry into a standings logjam and kept hold of solo  3rd place at 7-4. They also completed a sweep of their former coach and now UST mentor Aldin Ayo as the Tigers also lost by 27 points in the first round.

 The Tigers  fell into a three-way tie at 4th place with FEU and UP at 5-6.

UST guard Marvin Lee dragged his team to the finish line with 26 points on a 5-of-15 (33%) shots from downtown.

La Salle built on a strong first half with a massive 26-3 run, 76-34, to begin the 3rd quarter.

Back-to-back Justine Baltazar dunks, back-to-back Jollo Go triples, you name it, the Archers did it. By the time the dust settled, La Salle completed a 34-9 frame to go up by 44, 84-40.

The lead got as high as 48 points, 90-42, off a Mark Dyke long bomb with just a minute gone in the 4th. By then, all the Archers had to do was coast to the easy victory as time ticked away. 

The Scores

La Salle 110 – Melecio 22, Dyke 16, Caracut 15, Go 14, Baltazar 13, Serrano 13, Santillan 6, Montalbo 4, Manuel 3, Bates 2, Capacio 2, Corteza 0.

UST 69 – Lee 26, Cansino 14, Mahinay 5, Marcos 5, Cosejo 5, Zamora 4, Bataller 3, Huang 3, Agustin 2, Bonleon 2, Subido 0, Caunan 0.

Quarters: 29-13, 50-31, 84-40, 110-69.

– Rappler.com