REIGNING champion EcoOil-La Salle heeded assistant coach Gian Nazario’s challenge to show up with a better defense against Perpetual Help in the second half and this spelled the big difference yesterday.
The Green Archers mauled the Altas 107-78 in Game 1 of their best-of-3 semifinals duel in the PBA Aspirants’ Cup at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig.
Mark Nonoy shone with 22 points spiked by five three-pointers for La Salle, while EJ Gollena provided a huge spark off the bench with 11 markers.
Bright Nwankwo also had 10 and 13 for the Archers, who can finish off the Las Piñas-based five in the second game next Tuesday at The Arena in San Juan.
“I’ve been mentioning that we’re really trying to build good habits here,” Nazario said.
“We just challenged the team in terms of their individual defense, especially in the second half na kailangang ma-contain namin ang Perpetual,” he added.
Skipper Jielo Razon carried the fight for Perpetual with 17 points and three caroms, while Cyrus Nitura added 15 markers and eight boards.
Carlo Ferreras and Christian Pagaran also combined for 25 for the Altas.
Earlier, Wangs Basketball @27 Strikers-Letran battled back from a 24-point hole and stunned top seed Marinerong Pilipino-San Beda University, carving out a 93-87 overtime win in the opener of their race-to-2 series.
Kurt Reyson banged in 21 of his 32 points in the fourth quarter OT for the Knights, while Kevin Santos turned in a double-double of 17 markers and 13 rebounds.
Vince Cuajao also had 12 points for Letran, while Kyle Tolentino chipped in 10, none bigger than a clutch triple in the last 5.0 seconds of regulation that forced extension.
The Knights got the job done anew in an extra period and notched a come-from-behind triumph, mirroring their fightback from 10 points down late in the against Centro Escolar University in the quarterfinals three days ago.
“Uulitin ko lang na Praise God kasi binigyan kami ulit ng pag-asa na manalo. Puro ganito ang game namin pero pasalamat kami dahil na-o-overcome naming iyong ganitong trial, especially against a very strong team like San Beda,” Letran tactician Rensy Bajar said.
