Archers slay Maroons

Eager to settle an old score, La Salle came out tenacious early to deal University of the Philippines its worst beating of UAAP Season 80.

Ben Mbala fired 27 points and grabbed 14 rebounds as the Green Archers also gave coach Aldin Ayo a fitting birthday present with an 85-62 demolition of the Fighting Maroons on Sunday to solidify their hold of second spot at Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan.

Facing one of the two teams that beat them in the past two seasons, the Archers zoomed to an early double-digit lead before coasting in the second half to raise their record to 6-2.

Mbala made life difficult on UP top gun Paul Desiderio, who was held to just seven points on 2-of-13 shooting after scoring 30 points in the 98-87 win in the first round last Sept. 23.

“We wanted this win so bad,” said La Salle guard Kib Montalbo, who also ended his shooting slump with 12 points.

“We have lost to them four times this year, including tune-up games and its also coach’s (Ayo) birthday.”

Mbala added: “We were eager, we cannot lose to the same team, which probably means that maybe we got to think about what we’re doing wrong.”

Earlier, Far Eastern U inflicted more misery on winless University of Santo Tomas, while tightening its grip on fourth spot following an emphatic 96-70 victory.