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| c/o UAAP |
Games Sunday at the UST Quadricentennial Pavilion Arena
8:30 a.m. – UE vs NU (16U)
10:30 a.m. – UPIS vs UST (16U)
1 p.m. – UE vs NU (Men)
4:30 p.m. – UP vs UST (Men)
Jacob Cortez marked his homecoming to the UST Quadricentennial Pavilion Arena with clutch heroics in his debut for De La Salle University, guiding the Green Archers past a determined Adamson University Soaring Falcons, 60-58, to kick off their UAAP Season 88 Men’s Basketball Tournament title redemption campaign on a strong note, Saturday evening.
A former Tiger Cub, Cortez found comfort on his old home court, delivering crucial baskets down the stretch in his first game for the Green and White to help fend off the Soaring Falcons, led by Cedrick Manzano and Matty Erolon.
“It feels good to play in QPAV. I used to practice here. I remember the practices. And even arriving here, I saw some students doing PE, and I visualized myself before in that situation," shared Jacob, son of La Salle great Mike.
"It feels good to be here, it feels good to play for La Salle, and it feels great that we came out with the win today.”
Two free throws from Cortez gave La Salle an early 51-46 lead in the final period, but Adamson responded with a triple from AJ Fransman, a midrange jumper by Ray Allen Torres, and a reverse layup by Manzano, seizing a narrow 53-51 lead with 3:50 remaining.
After Mike Phillips and rookie Earl Medina exchanged baskets, Cortez came through again with a layup and a floater in consecutive possessions, giving the Green Archers a 57-56 advantage with 1:37 left on the clock.
The former San Beda University standout’s heroics continued as he drew a charge against Emmanuel Anabo, grabbed the rebound from Erolon’s potential go-ahead basket, and then found Mason Amos open on the left wing for the dagger three-pointer with just 7.9 seconds remaining.
Amos scored the game's biggest basket after missing seven of his first eight attempts.
“People are underestimating Adamson. They always give us a good fight wherever we play them. They got what they wanted; they always play teams in a low-scoring ball game, so we were right there on where they wanted us to be,” La Salle head coach Topex Robinson said.
“That’s the start of our season. [There’s] still a lot of work to be done and a lot of challenges amongst these guys, and I guess we’re just trying to really get better as we go along,” he added.
Team captain Mike Phillips finished with a dominant double-double effort of 17 points and 16 rebounds alongside four blocks, three steals, and one assist, while highly-touted rookie Lebron Daep made a strong debut with eight points, three rebounds, two steals, and one assist in 15 minutes and 14 seconds of action.
Amos ended the day with six points, four rebounds, two assists, one steal, and one block, while fellow transferees Kean Baclaan (one point, 0-of-6 shooting) and Luis Pablo (scoreless in 10 minutes and 49 seconds of play) struggled in their first outing for the Green Archers
La Salle will next face host school University of Santo Tomas on Saturday, September 27, at the SMART Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.
Playing in his final season, Manzano paced the Soaring Falcons with a near double-double effort of 19 points and nine rebounds with one block and one assist.
Erolon posted 10 points, six rebounds, four assists, and two steals, while Torres chipped in eight points, three rebounds, two assists, and one steal.
Meanwhile, Adamson aims to bounce back against defending champion University of the Philippines on Wednesday, September 24, still at the QPAV Arena.
The Scores:
DLSU (60) – Phillips 17, Cortez 16, Daep 8, Amos 6, Gollena 3, Marasigan 3, Abadam 2, Dungo 2, Nwankwo 2, Baclaan 1, Macalalag 0, Gomez 0, Pablo 0.
AdU (58) – Manzano 19, Erolon 10, Torres 8, Fransman 5, Medina 5, Ojarikre 4, Perez 4, Tumaneng 2, Anabo 1, Montebon 0, Demisana 0, Barcelona 0, C. Ronzone 0, A. Ronzone 0.
Quarterscores: 15-18, 33-25, 49-46, 60-58.
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