Unbeaten La Salle rips Ateneo to book Filoil Finals seat

Ben Mbala leads La Salle rout. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

La Salle once again exerted its dominance against archrival Ateneo with a dominant 92-77 victory Friday for a finals berth in the 2016 Filoil Flying V Preseason Premier Cup semifinals at Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan.

The undefeated Green Archers will clash against Arellano in the championship duel on Sunday.

“I don’t mind if it’s Ateneo or not, basta kami, gusto namin magtrabaho para sa team na as early as now, gusto namin malayo na ang marating namin. In terms of progress, gusto namin pataas ng pataas,” said coach Aldin Ayo.

Thomas Torres led La Salle with 17 points and three assists, while Ben Mbala got a double-double with 16 markers and 17 rebounds.

Aljun Melecio also went 5-of-10 from three for 15 points, setting the tone early for La Salle with three triples for a 40-22 lead in the second quarter.

Abu Tratter added 14 markers and eight boards while Andrei Caracut got 13 in the win.

Despite the rout, Ayo said La Salle still missed the services of Jeron Teng, who is nursing a sprained ankle.

“Na-miss namin si JT kasi di sya 100-percent, pero pinakiusapan namin sya na maglaro para hindi masira ang rotation namin. Medyo maga pa nga yung ankle nya eh,” he said.

Aaron Black topped Ateneo in the defeat with 24 points and nine rebounds, while Thirdy Ravena had 10 markers.

The Blue Eagles played without coach Tab Baldwin, who is with Gilas Pilipinas bound for its European training camp.

The Scores:

LA SALLE 92 – Torres 17, Mbala 16, Melecio 15, Tratter 14, Caracut 13, Montalbo 7, Go 6, Gob 2, Rivero 2, Teng 0.
ATENEO 77 – Black 24, Ravena 10, Wong 8, Porter 7, Tolentino 7, Ikeh 6, Go 4, Asistio 3, Nieto 2, Babilonia 2, Allmond 2, Mendoza 2, Banzon 0.

Quarters: 27-14, 48-40, 66-56, 92-77.