La Salle’s Mike Phillips (25) during a game against UST in the UAAP Season 87 men’s basketball tournament.–MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines–La Salle started slow before picking up some steam to hammer out an 88-67 triumph over University of Santo Tomas in the UAAP Season 87 men’s basketball tournament at Smart Araneta Coliseum on Sunday.
A consistent force for the Green Archers, Mike Phillips, who was grieving the loss of a friend, showed up with another double-double of 12 points and 18 rebounds as the Green Archers improved to a 5-1 record.
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“We’ve been struggling the past couple of days, a couple of games, but to continue to be that force, it’s just really to try our best to wake up every day and really appreciate what you have. No matter how hard it really gets, when people are no longer here, just really stay true to what you have,” Phillips said.
SCHEDULE: UAAP Season 87 basketball
La Salle coach Topex Robinson and Mike Phillips talk about their dominant win over UST. #UAAPSeason87 @INQUIRERSports pic.twitter.com/axoBKGFyFq
— Lance Agcaoili (@LanceAgcaoilINQ) September 29, 2024
“When you don’t feel like waking up, don’t like going to practice, we just look around and be grateful. When I came here today, I just tried my best to see what I’m grateful for, and that’s everybody, it’s you guys here, it’s the crowd. It’s just like a movie to me. Every day is a blessing because you never know when it’s your last day.”
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Vhoris Marasigan typified the support provided by the bench with 11 points while Kevin Quiambao finished with 10 points and six rebounds.
La Salle got a lot of contributions from its reserves with a 49-18 advantage on bench points as Raven Gonzales and JC Macalalag also added 10 points apiece.
“The key for us this afternoon was we just really tried to outwork them. We know what they’re capable of. We know how well-coached that team is,” La Salle coach Topex Robinson said. “They’re riding off a very good momentum coming to our game and sabi nga namin, our goal right now is to just outwork UST and glad that we just really did what we’re supposed to do … to get this win.”
READ: UAAP: La Salle fends off pesky FEU to get back on track
The Tigers stormed out the gates with an 18-8 run to start the game but that didn’t last long as the Archers slowly got their footing thanks to Quiambao and Phillips who were crucial for La Salle to gain the lead at halftime.
The Archers blew the game wide open in the fourth quarter with EJ Gollena and Macalalag padding up the advantage after nailing back-to-back treys.
Nic Cabañero had 16 points while Forthsky Padrigao posted 15 points and five assists for UST, which was out-rebounded by La Salle, 56-29.
Defending champion La Salle caps off its first-round campaign with a rematch of last season’s finals against unbeaten University of the Philippines on October 6.
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