The La Salle Green Archers were shooting below par.
But after controlling the boards at the both ends of the court, the Green Archers went on to outplay the National University Bulldogs, 85-61, yesterday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Justine Baltazar made up for the Green Archers’ less than average shooting percentage as they went on to post their first win in the second round of the 82nd University Athletic Association of the Philippines men’s basketball tournament.
With the Green Archers hitting just 38.1 percent of their field goals, the 6’8” Baltazar rose to the occasion with a season-high double-double of 25 points and 25 rebounds.
Andrei Caracut and Jamie Malonzo also made their presence felt for the Green Archers, who went on to post their fourth win in eight outings.
Meanwhilew, Wendell Comboy scored past his defender in the last 18.3 seconds to lift the Far Eastern University to an 80-79 win over University of the Philippines in overtime.
The game went into overtime at 69-all after Javi Gomez de Liano converted off a steal for UP in the remaining 24.7 seconds in regulation.
FEU, which squandered a 16-point edge in the last three minutes, got 18 and 17 points from Ken Tuffin and LJ Gonzales in improving to 4-4, gaining a share of third with UST and La Salle. UP, with Kobe Paras leading with 22 points, is still in second at 5-3.
Caracut had a season-high 16 points.
The Archers, who out-rebounded NU, 66-40, got eight points from Baltazar in the second period as they went on to take a 40-24 halftime edge.
“It’s just a good win for us. We wanted to have good momentum going into Sunday’s game (against Ateneo). But more than that, it’s more of us wanting to have a different approach going into the second round,” said La Salle coach Gian Nazario.
The Green Archers went on to take a 25-point edge off Brandon Bates’ layup, 79-54, with 2:05 left. Dave Ildefonso made 11 points for NU, which now has a 1-7 slate at the cellar.