PBA D-League: Deschon Winston leads in La Salle rout of St. Clare

EcOoil La Salle’s Deschon Winston. –PBA IMAGES

MANILA, Philippines—EcoOil-La Salle pulled away in the third quarter and overpowered Adalem-St. Clare, 89-74, to move closer to a finals berth in the PBA D-League Aspirants’ Cup on Friday at Smart Araneta Coliusem.

The Green Archers stifled the Saints on defense, scoring 35 points off 26 turnovers en route to a 1-0 lead in the best of three semifinals series..

“I told them they must be able to contain their [St. Clare] efforts and stats. I think we were able to do that. When we were at 50-all, we were able to take control of the ball game,” La Salle head coach Derick Pumaren said after the game.

From a deadlock at 50 at the 3:12 mark in the third, EcoOil-La Salle took over for good with a decisive 10-3 run then continued to ride their momentum leading by as much as 21 at one point.

Deschon Winston led the scoring department for La Salle for the second straight day with 24. He also led the team to the win in the Filoil Preseason Cup just a day before.

Gilas cadet Kevin Quiambao worked on both sides of the court with 18 points, six boards and four blocks. CJ Austria and Mark Nonoy registered 15 apiece.

St. Clare, which booked its semis ticket two days after battling University of Santo Tomas in a rubber match, failed to capitalize on its strong start where it led by 25-18 at the start of the second.

John Rojas and Johnsherick Estrada scored 19 and 14 markers for St. Clare, respectively, in the loss.

Game 2 will be on Sunday, 10 a.m., at the same venue.