MANILA – De La Salle University Green Archers renewed its mastery over University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons with a 77-66 win in the UAAP Season 87 men’s basketball on Sunday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Kevin Quiambao led with 15 points, while Michael Phillips and Joshua David added 14 and 12 points, respectively, as the Green Archers secured the top spot with a 12-1 record.
With both teams knotted at 51 apiece late in the third quarter, the Green Archers sparked a 6-0 run, fueled by Phillips and Quiambao, to take a 57-51 lead heading into the fourth.
The Green Archers pulled away further in the fourth quarter with outside hits from Quiambao and David and inside connections from Raven Gonzales and Andrei Dungo for the largest lead of 11 points.
“Just like how we treat each and every game. It just happens to be them that we’re facing. Whether we like it or not, we’re going to see them,” said Green Archers head coach Topex Robinson after the game.
“We just looked at what we can learn from this game to prepare for the upcoming Final Four. We don’t really put too much attention on who we’re going to play because we can’t control what they’ll do,” said Robinson.
JD Cagulangan top-scored with 22 points, while rookie Jacob Bayla added a career-high of 10 markers as the Fighting Maroons dropped to 9-3 after suffering their second straight defeat.
Meanwhile, Adamson University Falcons relied on a career-best performance from AJ Fransman to eliminate the National University Bulldogs 53-41.
Fransman, a transferee from the Enderun College Titans, scored a career-high 18 points, helping the Falcons stay in the UAAP Final Four contention with a 5-7 win-loss record.
This marked Fransman’s second consecutive career game for the Falcons, following his 14-point performance in Adamson’s 45-37 victory over the University of the East Red Warriors on October 30./PN
