Far Eastern University-Diliman hammered a convincing 80-58 victory over De La Salle-Zobel to bounce back from its first loss in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines Season 85 high school boys’ basketball tournament yesterday at the Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan.
Liam Salangsang delivered all of his nine points to spearhead a sizzling third-quarter rally that powered the Baby Tamaraws to their third win in four games.
More than that, the Baby Tamaraws were able to recover from their bitter 71-73 setback at the hands of Adamson University last Sunday.
JR Pasaol fired 18 points, six assists and three rebounds while Luke Felipe added 14 markers and eight rebounds for FEU-D, which scored 30 points in the third quarter to demoralize the Junior Archers with a 58-41 lead.
The lead ballooned to 26 off a Pasaol three-pointer in the final 7:45, 71-45.
“What happened in our previous game were breaks of the game,” said FEU-D assistant coach Denok Miranda, who called the shots for head coach Allan Albano.
“I told them to learn from our previous game against Adamson and stay positive. We need that kind of experience to prepare us for big games. It was such a good experience for us.”
Ryhle Melencio delivered 14 points and 10 rebounds while Waki Espina chipped in 14 markers, four boards and three steals for the Junior Archers, who missed star guard Kieffer Alas due to groin injury.
DLSZ fell to 1-3 in the team standings.
Meanwhile, LeBron Nieto made a rousing return as he bannered Ateneo de Manila University to a 71-66 victory over University of Santo Tomas in the second game.
Nieto, who missed the Blue Eagles’ previous game against Nazareth School of National University due to a sprained ankle, finished withy 18 points on a perfect 10-for-10 from the free throw line.
But more than that, he drained a long jumper to shatter the 64-all deadlock in the final 2:12 before calmly sinking three free throws in the crucial stretch to seal the victory.
“It was an ugly win but it was a win that we badly needed,” said Blue Eagles head coach Reggie Varilla after collecting their second win in four matches.
“The boys just buckled down on defense in the second half and we just found a way to win.”
