De La Salle-Zobel and Far Eastern University-Diliman took contrasting victories to remain tied at the helm in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines Season 86 juniors basketball tournament yesterday at the Adamson Gym in Manila.
The Junior Archers drubbed debuting archrivals Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles, 91-64, while the Baby Tamaraws escaped University of the East Junior Warriors, 84-82, to retain their spots on top of this 16U demonstration event.
Unlike its 73-71 win over UE on opening day last week, DLSZ hardly broke a sweat against Ateneo, leading wire-to-wire to secure its second win.
Melvin Tailan led the way for the Archers with 19 points while Tomas Cruz notched a double-double with 17 points and 13 rebounds.
Javi Dimayuga and Vince Magan chipped in 16 points apiece as well for DLSZ, which will next face idle National University Nazareth School on Sunday at the FEU-FERN Gym in Diliman.
Meanwhile, the Baby Tamaraws leaned on the endgame heroics of JB Cagurungan to keep their slate unblemished.
Down 79-82 with just under a minute left, Cagurungan drained a clutch trey to knot things up.
After getting a stop, he then went for a daredevil drive, scoring the go-ahead basket plus the harm with 11.4 seconds left.
Though he missed his free throw, FEU-D was able to secure the rebound and the victory.
Cagurungan finished with a line of 18 points and eight rebounds. Travis Pascual scored a game-high 23 points.
Ethan Aguas got 16 points and 10 rebounds while Mab Mesina and Mhico Abellar got 14 points each for UE.
Ateneo, who missed the services of second-generation hoopers Ziv Espinas and Deydi De Ocampo due to injuries, was paced by Zane Kallos, who produced 12 points and 13 rebounds.
