#FilOil2019: La Salle blitzes past Arellano to go 4-1

SAN JUAN -- La Salle makes it three in a row at the FilOil FlyingV Preseason Cup after tearing Arellano apart with a 95-62 beatdown to tighten their grip at the third spot in Group A, Thursday afternoon at the FilOil FlyingV Centre.

After trailing in the first half that went down the wire, the Green Archers then took the axes away from the Chiefs in the second half, blitzing them at will to improve their record at 4-1, behind idle San Sebastian and San Beda who share the lead with identical 2-0 records.

It was in the third when La Salle showed its scoring spree, using a 10-0 blitz to make it an 11 point lead, 53-42 in a six minute span.

Then the rout was on in the fourth when the Green Archers started the period with nine straight, then had 10 more unanswered to extend their lead to its biggest at 33, 85-52 with 4:59 remaining in the game to keep AU winless after four games.

The running game was evident with La Salle getting 25 fastbreak points, while converting Arellano's 15 turnovers into 19 points.

Justine Baltazar and Encho Serrano posted double-doubles in scoring and rebounding, with the former led all players with 21 points and 16 rebounds, while Serrano had a 16-11 game to backstop the former NU Bullpup.

Dariel Bayla led the NCAA hosts with 19 points.

The scores:

La Salle 95 -- Baltazar 21, Melecio 16, Serrano 16, Bartlett 11, Caracut 8, Lojera 8, David 5, Escandor 3, Cu 3, Capacio 2, Lim 2, Manaytay 0

Arellano 62 -- Bayla 19, Salado 14, Arana 8, Concepcion 5, Alcoriza 4, Sacramento 4, Villar 4, Segura 2, Loyola 2, Sablan 0, Santos 0, Gayosa 0, Cruz 0, Sunga 0, Sera Josef 0

Quarter scores: 17-19, 35-38, 61-48, 95-62

(photo: FilOil FlyingV Sports)