UAAP: La Salle sweats the victory in extra time over UST to take the streak to 5

MANILA, Philippines–La Salle extended its winning streak to five in the UAAP Season 87 men's basketball tournament by handing the University of Santo Tomas a 94-87 overtime defeat on Wednesday at the Mall of Asia Environment.

Kevin Quiambao scored a career-high 29 points to go along with nine rebounds and Mike Phillips finished with another double-double of 16 points and 13 rebounds as the Green Archers took sole possession of first place with an 8-1 record.

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“We are not surprised how UST played. We always remind ourselves that all teams will compete against us. Coach Pido Jarencio and the rest of the staff are really doing a tremendous job to make sure they are a competitive group,” said Coach Topex Robinson.

SCHEDULE: UAAP Basketball Season 87

“We made mistakes and it is an opportunity for us to learn. 26 [turnovers] It's no joke. “We will work on this in preparation against Adamson,” he added.

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Raven Gonzales backed up La Salle's two stars with 80 percent shooting from 11 points.

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“I think the lesson we learned is that we have to continue playing with the same energy from the first to the last quarter, because the game is not over after the third quarter,” Quiambao said.

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READ: UAAP: La Salle and UP remain on top as fight for Ultimate 4 intensifies

“After the third quarter, we relaxed a little bit. “The coach reminded us that UST might come back, so we had to be prepared,” he added.

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Forth Padrigao and the UST Growling Tigers force overtime against the La Salle Green Archers in the UAAP Season 87 men's basketball tournament. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.internet

The Archers wasted no time showing their superiority over the Tigers with a 14-0 run from the start. Quiambao scored 13 of those deflating early points as La Salle outscored UST in that first frame, 27-14.

UST managed to hold off the Archers somehow to an even 15-15 outing in the second quarter, but La Salle continued to pound the Tigers to take a 40-20 lead.

READ: UAAP: UST's Mark Llemit says “we're back to zero” in the second round

The Tigers kept fighting even after losing Mo Tounkara, who had 14 points and eight rebounds before fouling out, going on an 11-5 run behind 3-pointers from Migs Pangilinan and Kyle Paranada and points off turnovers from Forthsky Padrigao and Nic Cabañero.

With a chance to win the game, Padrigao scored a layup, but was fouled hard by Phillips. The former Ateneo point guard, however, split his free throws and sent the game to overtime.

UST lost another gear in Christian Manaytay at the start of the extra five minutes where La Salle took all the momentum. Quiambao exhausted both of his charities to increase the Archers' lead, 89-81, before a Phillips layup gave them a lofty 10-point lead.

Padrigao and Cabañero fired two more, to reduce the difference to six, but it was not enough as Phillips divided his gifts to seal the result.

Cabañero scored a season-high 23 points and 12 rebounds, while Padrigao added 15 points. Pangilinan had 10 points and five rebounds, but all that wasn't enough to prevent the Tigers from absorbing a consecutive loss to fall to 4-5.

UST looks for a first victory in the second round when it faces Ateneo at home at the Quadricentennial Pavilion on Saturday before the rivalry between La Salle and the Blue Eagles on October 26, also at the Mall of Asia Enviornment.