At A Glance
- Final Four-bound De La Salle fended off the gritty Far Eastern University side, 80-70, for its seventh straight win in the second round of the UAAP Season 86 men's basketball tournament on Wednesday, Nov. 15, at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
Final Four-bound De La Salle fended off the gritty Far Eastern University side, 80-70, for its seventh straight win in the second round of the UAAP Season 86 men’s basketball tournament on Wednesday, Nov. 15, at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
The Green Archers climbed 10-3 in the standings to stay closely in the hunt for the twice-to-beat edge.
Raven Cortez showed the way for La Salle with a team-high 16 points, while Mark Nonoy added 15 markers all from beyond the arc.
MVP frontrunner Kevin Quiambao delivered an off-the-bench double-double outing of 13 points and 11 rebounds to go with five assists, while Evan Nelle had seven points with 12 assists on his end.
Knotted at 64-all in the early goings of the closing period, La Salle began to pull away with an 11-0 surge capped by Cortez’s back-to-back floaters with over five minutes to go.
Quiambao’s triple at the 3:19 mark then pretty much sealed the victory as any last-ditch effort from the FEU side went nowhere.
“We have to acknowledge the effort of FEU. We reminded everybody that they have zero chance of making it to the next round. But we expected they were gonna come out one hundred percent. They battled with us and kept us on our toes. And we responded to the challenge, especially in the second half and fourth quarter,” said La Salle head coach Topex Robinson.
Jorick Bautista led the balanced attack for FEU with 17 points, while Pat Sleat had 11 markers.
Gonzales and Miguel Ona tallied 10 points each.
The already-ran Tamaraws sank further with a 3-10 slate heading into their final game of the season.