Serrano explodes for career-high 29 points as Archers tame Tigers

MANILA, Philippines – La Salle rode on the shoulders of Encho Serrano to stun University of Santo Tomas, 92-77, in the 82nd UAAP men's basketball tournament Saturday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

The Kapampangan guard shot an efficient 13-of-22 from the field as he caught fire for the Green Archers with a career-best 29 points, alongside five rebounds and two assists to end their first round on a high note.

"We were due to win," said coach Gian Nazario. "The way the team has been practicing, it showed in today's game."

Serrano anchored that crisp execution for the boys from Taft as they shot 51-percent from the field and dished out 19 assists as a collective.

That was in full view as La Salle slowly built its cushion from a close 54-50 affair to a 67-58 advantage heading into the payoff period.

And then, everything just fell as the Green Archers led by as much as 17 points to improve to a 3-4 card to end the first round.

"We're just talking about it, that when our team follows the gameplan, the results will follow after that. We played well against Adamson, we were eight seconds unlucky versus UP, but this time around, we made sure we'll finish the game well," said Nazario.

Aljun Melecio also had his way from deep, going 6-of-9 from beyond the arc to pour in 26 points and five assists.

Jamie Malonzo just missed out on a double-double with his 13 points, nine rebounds, and two dimes in the triumph.

Brent Paraiso led UST with a career-high 22 points and six rebounds in his first game against La Salle.

Soulemane Chabi Yo also registered 16 points and 14 rebounds for the off-shooting UST squad, which could only shoot 29-percent from threes.

It was a tough defeat for the Growling Tigers, which fell to 4-3 in the standings.

The scores:

DLSU 92 – Serrano 29, Melecio 26, Malonzo 13, Bartlett 7, Caracut 6, Baltazar 4, Hill 3, Bates 2, Manuel 2, Laput 0.

UST 77 – Paraiso 22, Chabi Yo 16, Abando 9, Nonoy 9, Concepcion 8, Huang 4, Subido 4, Ando 2, Cansino 2, Bataller 1, Cuajao 0, Pangilinan 0.

Quarterscores: 20-14, 42-32, 67-58, 92-77.