FILE- Coach Derick Pumaren and the La Salle Green Archers. –FILOIL PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—La Salle got scolding from coach Derick Pumaren at halftime before getting its act together to rout Jose Rizal University, 74-62, in the Filoil EcoOil Preseason Cup at San Juan Arena on Thursday.
After a neck-and-neck first half, Pumaren had to lose his temper during the break to get his boys back on track.
“I don’t think I motivated them, I think I just got really mad at them,” Pumaren said with a laugh.
“We shouldn’t be in any position to be lax. We should give all out effort in every game, you can’t just choose games where you want to turn it on.”
From a 35-all deadlock at the end of the second quarter, the Green Archers responded with a pivotal 20-6 Deschon Winston to open a 14-point lead, 55-41.
Winston became the main man of the third frame, scoring 12–all triples–of the Green Archers’ rally from beyond the arc.
The Bombers, who are still winless in six games, closed the gap by nine points to end the third quarter with a 9-4 run, 59-50. La Salle, however, locked them out of their comeback hopes, limiting them to only 12 points in the fourth.
Winston finished the game with 27 points for La Salle, who is still undefeated after six outings.
Bright Nwankwo almost had a double-double of 11 points and nine rebounds for the Green archers while Michael Phillips ended with one at 10 markers and 11 boards.
Agem Miranda and Ry Dela Rosa registered 14 points each for the Heavy Bombers.