Mbala back to his old dominant self in Game 2 win

Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

Ben Mbala vowed to bounce back after his poor performance in a 76-70 loss to Ateneo in Game 1 of the UAAP Season 80 men’s basketball Finals.

And Mbala stayed true to his word and played like how a two-time MVP should in the Green Archers’ 92-83 comeback win on Wednesday.

The 6-foot-7 Cameroonian finished with 20 points, 16 rebounds, three steals and four blocks four days after he was held to career-lows eight points and seven field goal attempts.

READ: La Salle rallies to stun Ateneo, forces UAAP title decider

Mbala was part of the La Salle five on the floor that sparked the team’s fightback from 21 points down in the second quarter, and it all started with a vicious dunk.

His throwdown triggered a 10-0 La Salle run that helped chop Ateneo’s lead down to single-digits, 51-42, at the half.

“I say we just stick together. We saw some of our players down but we didn’t give up,” Mbala said after La Salle forced a winner-take-all Game 3 on Sunday.

“We just kept believing because we’ve been here before. We just really stick together and did what coach told us to do which is to play defense,” he added.

READ: Rivero fights off tears to spark La Salle comeback 

The only thing that slowed Mbala down was a case of cramps and fortunately for him and the Archers, he went down just as the final buzzer sounded.

“In the fourth, I was already cramping up. I just wanted to be there for the team and luckily, I was able to finish the game,” said Mbala, who logged a game-high 34 minutes.