Archers sweep Tokyo tilt

TOKYO – It wasn’t a smooth ride to the top even as La Salle swept the eight-team, three-day World University Basketball Series with a 3-0 record to win the third edition of the annual tournament at the Yoyogi National Stadium here last Monday. The Archers got off to a hot start, blowing out Perbanas Institute of Jakarta, 117-71, last Saturday then went through the wringer in carving out a thrilling 87-82 OT decision over the defending champion National Chengchi University of Taipei the next day.

The final pitted La Salle and unbeaten Korea University whose victims were the Japan University Basketball Select, 79-72, and the University of Sydney, 82-77, in OT. The other squads in the invitational tournament were the Hakuoh University of Japan and Nippon Sport Science University of Japan. US NCAA D1 California State at Fullerton was in the initial cast but withdrew.

Coach Topex Robinson brought over his eligibles for the coming UAAP season and in-residence players Jacob Cortez, Kean Baclaan, Luis Pablo and Mason Amos. Organizers required a 12-man lineup for every game and Robinson could choose from a pool made up of Michael Philips, Kevin Quiambao, Vhoris Marasigan, Earl Abadam, JC Macalalag, Raven Cortez, EJ Gollena, Matt Rubico, Ethan Alian, Justin Buenaventura, Lian Ramiro, Alex Konov, Isaiah Philips, CJ Austria, Henry Agunanne, Russel Ogana and Doy Dungo. Another eligible Josh David joined the trip but is still recovering from arthroscopic surgery from a meniscal tear suffered during the first UP game in the FilOil EcoOil preseason. Against Perbanas, Robinson sat out Gollena, Austria, Rubico and Konov. Quiambao led the charge with 16 points, 16 rebounds, four assists and three dunks.

Chengchi showed up with three Senegal imports but under tournament rules, only one could play at a time. The toughest import was 6-10, 290-pound Boubacar Mboup who came from Tyler Junior College in Colorado Springs. La Salle blew a 17-point lead in the third quarter and Chengchi detonated a 9-2 bomb to close out regulation in a tie, 76-all. Chengchi led, 79-76 then Quiambao hit two in a row and Gollena knocked down a three to regain momentum. La Salle missed six free throws in the last 1:28 but after Wu Zhi Kai buried a three to cut the lead to three, Chengchi went blank. The Archers shot a poor 38 percent from the line and had 25 turnovers but as their offense sputtered, defense held strong. Quiambao shot five of his 17 in OT to bail out La Salle. Mboup tallied 14, scoring mainly on bullying power drives.

In tomorrow’s column, we’ll recap what happened in the championship game where Korea’s star guard Yuh Yeon Moon exploded for 30 points with no relief from the first to third quarters.