Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
In a game where Ben Mbala recorded yet another career performance, the La Salle center had no choice but to take the backseat and tip his hat to University of the East’s Alvin Pasaol.
Mbala had a career-high 39 points in the Green Archers’ 106-100 win over University of the East but it was Pasaol who dominated the stat sheets when he finished with 49 points.
Pasaol’s magnificence saw him become the top single game scorer this century in the UAAP, toppling now-National University head coach Jeff Napa’s 15-year-old record of 42 points.
READ: La Salle sends UE to 0-6, spoils Pasaol’s 49-point explosion
For Mbala, watching someone apart from him dominate the game deserves praise of the highest accord.
“He was just in the zone, he played very well, and he was able to lead his team. I feel like we didn’t do a good job of stopping him,” said Mbala Wednesday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
“For a guy to drop 50 on us, and if a guy is in the zone, we have to take him out of the comfort zone.”
Mbala and Pasaol even had a tender moment near the end of the game when the two exchanged a small embrace with the big man as if almost congratulating the Red Warrior on a job well done.
“I told him to keep working, he did a great job, and when a guy plays well you have to acknowledge him,” said Mbala. “The guy played well and I’ll give it to him.”
“This is the game of basketball, we all want to have fun. We have to enjoy and I have to congratulate him for his career-high.”