Nothing personal, say Archers of Aldin Ayo

MANILA, Philippines — La Salle played like a mean green machine and clobbered Santo Tomas, 99-72, but the triumphant Archers insisted this had nothing to do with showing up their former coach Aldin Ayo, who’s on the other side now.

“Hindi namin napag-usapan talaga. Ang approach namin going to this game is if we win this, it will put us in a better spot,” said La Salle mentor Louie Gonzalez, whose squad improved to 3-2 and moved one W behind second-running Ateneo (4-1) in the UAAP Season 81 men’s basketball standings.

The Archers were at their sharpest against Ayo’s new team, posting a tournament-high 99 points with six players in double figures and logging a season-best 56 rebounds in setting the tone for the 27-point romp. 

Justine Baltazar shot a career-high 22 and grabbed 18 boards on top of three blocks while Aljun Melecio tied his season-high 19 to go with eight boards as DLSU got back on track after their 61-67 setback to UP.

“It’s not really about playing against coach Aldin; it’s about bouncing back from the bad loss to UP. Yun ang focus namin,” said Melecio.

Far Eastern later caught up with La Salle at No. 3 after a 73-68 disposal of skidding National U (1-4).

Wendell Comboy rifled in 18 markers, 10 of them in the fourth, as the Tams atoned for their 65-90 shocker to cellar-dwelling University of the East Sunday.

“Sobrang nakakahiya yun (loss to UE). Hindi kami makatulog, gusto namin game na agad para makabawi. Hayun, naging excited naman kami bumawi,” said Comboy, who made three treys.

The scores:

First Game

DLSU 99 – Baltazar 22, Melecio 19, Caracut 13, Go 11, Santillan 11, Serrano 10, Bates 6, Manuel 5, Dyke 2, Capacio 0, Corteza 0.

UST 72 – Subido 16, Huang 13, Lee 13, Caunan 8, Cansino 7, Consejo 5, Bataller 3, Marcos 3, Mahinay 2, Zamora 2, Agustin 0, Ando 0.

Quarterscores: 28-15, 54-42, 71-51, 99-72

Second Game

FEU 73 – Comboy 18, Gonzales 9, Tolentino 9, Tuffin 9, Escoto 8, Orizu 8, Ebona 6, Parker 4, Cani 2, Inigo 0, Stockton 0.

NU 68 – Clemente 15, Aquino 11, D. Ildefonso 11, Joson 7, Diputado 6, Yu 6, S. Ildefonso 5, Gallego 3, Gaye 2, Morido 2, Malonzo 0, Rike 0, Tibayan 0.

Quarterscores: 20-24, 37-37, 54-49, 73-68