La Salle waxes hot, forces Game 3 vs UP

De La Salle flipped the page and gave University of the Philippine a dose of its own medicine, torching the Fighting Maroons from the distance and scored a dominant 82-60 win to force a winner-take-all Game 3 in the UAAP Season 86 men’s basketball tournament on Sunday, Dec. 3, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Moving forward from a disastrous 97-67 loss in Game 1, the Green Archers looked fresh and sharp right from the get-go, paying full trust on their snipers who delivered 12 three-pointers while also giving Kevin Quiambao a fitting celebration for winning the Most Valuable Player plum.

Francis Escandor finished with 14 points on a 4-of-5 clip from the three-point line, none bigger from his back-to-back hits that made it 34-28 which set up the tone for La Salle’s shooting spree.

The deciding match is on Wednesday, Dec. 6, at 6 p.m. and still at the Big Dome.

Graduating guard Evan Nelle registered a double-double outing of 12 rebounds and 10 assists to go with four points and five steals.

Quiambao came off the bench and flirted with a double-double performance with nine points and a huge 13-rebound finish, and tallied three crucial blocks.

Joshua David, for his part, tallied 12 points on an efficient 4-of-6 shooting from the outside, while CJ Austria chipped in 11 points after burying back-to-back three-pointers in the last minute of the game.

La Salle limited UP to only two triples out of 19 attempts, and shot 12 of its 38.

CJ Cansino and Mythical Five member Malick Diouf paced the Fighting Maroons with 11 points apiece, while last game’s hero Harold Alarcon added 10 markers on the losing end.

Rookie of the Year Francis Lopez grabbed 13 rebounds to go with nine points.