By MARK REY MONTEJO
Reigning champion La Salle may have been showing cracks to its once invincible status but the Green Archers are making sure to stick together amid the adversity that comes their way.
And the latest challenge to their supremacy took the form of a tough and gritty stand from University of Sto. Tomas as La Salle needed an extra period to finally shake off and bag a 94-87 decision.
And like in the previous instances where they overcame adversities, the Green Archers leaned on their main man in Kevin Quiambao who put up a scoring career-high of 29 points on top of nine rebounds and three assists to power the Green Archers (8-1) past the Growling tigers.
“Tulad ng sinasabi namin sa isa’t isa, basketball is a game of friendship eh. No’ng time na nagra-run sila no’ng di namin parang makuha ‘yong groove namin, and then lead by example lang,” said Quiambao.
“Hindi naman takeover, pakitaan lang namin ng actions na maganda, kailangan lang namin sundin ‘yong sistema namin wag tayong lilihis,” he added. “May mga tendencies kami na kapag humahabol ‘yong kalaban nagkakanya-kanya kami eh.”
After turning the jets on in the first half and taking a big lead, La Salle seemingly relaxed and lost steam in the fourth frame as Forthsky Padrigao and Nic Cabanero anchored UST’s late rally to send the game to overtime.
The duo was splendid in both ends of the floor, giving UST a huge lift despite the ejection of Mo Tounkara.
“I think ‘yong lesson na nakuha namin is kailangan namin takbuhin ‘yong tinatakbo namin from first to fourth kasi hindi naman natatapos ‘yong laro ng third quarter eh,” the 6-foot-7 versatile forward continued.
“Pero ‘yon nga pini-preparedkami nila coach (Topex Robinson) sa gantong mga sitwasyon, pero mahirap kasi putulin ‘yong momentum pag sobrang malaki na. Buti nalang nag-overtime and then nakuha namin ulit ‘yong groove namin.”
For Robinson it was just another lesson his team has to learn through the season.
“We know that UST might be a team that we might play in the future. So, at least we know what they could do and how we could prevent those situations from happening again,” added Robinson. “We’re always open to learning.”
