De La Salle head coach Derrick Pumaren heaped praises on guard Evan Nelle despite falling short anew to rival Ateneo in the UAAP Season 84.

Nelle scored 20 points to go with four steals for the Green Archers, sticking to his vow to do his duty for De La Salle.
Along with Kurt Lojera, who led all scorers with 21 points on 8-of-11 shooting along with six rebounds, Nelle set the pace for the Archers in the first half.
De La Salle, however, collapsed in the third quarter after the Blue Eagles guards SJ Belangel and BJ Andrade caught fire and nailed triples to pull away for good.
That said, Nelle and Lojera's efforts went into naught as Pumaren said a total team effort is a must in order to defeat Ateneo.
"He (Nelle) made some tough shots, he was fighting there but one guy cannot do it alone, two guys cannot do it alone," said Pumaren. "So everybody must be locked in lahat doon all hands on deck to be able to beat Ateneo and with Evan there playing that way siguro we need more support from others."
Justine Baltazar and Deschon Winston also contributed for the Archers, who slipped to a 5-3 record, but struggled from the field and had three turnovers each.
Baltazar added 10 points on a 4-of-11 shooting including 10 rebounds while Winston chipped 10 points too on a 4-of-14 clip.
"Third quarter, they've made a huge run third quarter. We were like in the game but I think bumigay kami," said Nelle, who transferred from the NCAA under last season's first runner-up and powerhouse team San Beda.
"We couldn't convert sa mga mistakes namin that was so crucial. 'Yong run talaga nila nung third quarter. Sayang. Kinapos but we'll get them next time."
The next time the rival schools will meet though could be in the Final Four as Ateneo remained undefeated at the top with eight straight wins while De La Salle has a 5-3 record at third.