MANILA – University of the East Red Warriors’ effective ball movement played a crucial role in their 86-73 victory over University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers in the UAAP Season 86 men’s basketball on Saturday at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
Rookie Ethan Galang, who poured in all of his 11 points in the second half, said the Red Warriors are a tough team to beat when they share the ball more, as evident with their 29 assists against the Growling Tigers.
“If we move the ball the way we do it against the UST, we’ll be a tough team to beat here in the UAAP,” Galang said. “We had almost 30 assists, and when we moved the ball, it made us look undefeated.”
Precious Momowei had another huge double-double for the Red Warriors with 17 points and 18 rebounds to go with five assists and two blocks. Abdul Sawat also delivered 17 points.
I think the boys followed the instructions. We came out very strong in the first quarter; we shared the ball, so it was a good result,” said UE head coach Jack Santiago, whose squad improved to 3-6 win-loss slate after snapping their five-game losing skid.
Miguel Pangilinan had 20 points, 17 of which came in the first half, while Nicael Cabañero produced 18 points and six rebounds as the Growling Tigers dropped to a 1-8 win-loss slate.
Meanwhile, Kevin Quiambao posted a triple-double as De La Salle University Green Archers scored an 88-78 victory over National University Bulldogs. The Green Archers improved to 6-3, while the Bulldogs dropped to 7-2.
The Muntinlupa City-native Quiambao dished out several nifty passes to end up with 14 assists on top of his 17 points and 11 rebounds to become the first UAAP player to record a triple-double performance in five years.
“Siguro dahil din sa system eh, ‘yun flow ng system namin kaya nagkakaroon ng assists,” said Quiambao, who is the frontrunner for the UAAP Season 86 Most Valuable Player award.
“On being the first player to have a triple-double in five years, sobrang sarap na masurpass ‘yun pero credit din sa teammates, hindi ako makaka-14 assists kung hindi nila na-shoot ‘yun,” he added./PN
