Archers romp in Tokyo opener

TOKYO – Reigning UAAP men’s basketball champion La Salle crushed Indonesian collegiate titlist Perbanas Institute, 117-71, to start its campaign in the eight-team, three-day World University Basketball Series (WUBS) on a blistering note at the Yoyogi National Stadium here yesterday.

The Archers play the winner of the game between National Chengchi University (NCCU) of Taipei and Nippon Sport Science University (NSSU) of Japan, being played at presstime, today with the survivor advancing to the final tomorrow.

La Salle flew in early Wednesday morning and that same day, defeated Chuo University, 109-107, in a tune-up on Kevin Quiambao’s four-point play with eight seconds left. In two practice games the next day, the Archers beat Meiji University, 81-76 in the morning and lost to B-League D3 team Shinagawa City, 89-71 in the afternoon. Shinagawa was led by former TNT import Michael Craig who hit 28 points, including seven triples and 7-1 University of Cincinnati center Hayden Koval.

Craig played three games for TNT in 2017, averaging 21.7 points in the PBA Governors’ Cup and was replaced by Glen Rice Jr. “I had a triple double in my first game (21 points, 13 rebounds, 12 assists against Kia) then we lost to San Miguel so they brought in Rice,” he said. “I’m about 30 pounds overweight now but I’ve got three months to get in shape before the season begins. We’re allowed three imports, two to play at a time and our third guy Jordan Faison is still on the way over from the US. I remember my TNT teammates like (Roger) Pogoy.” Koval, 27, is on his second year with Shinagawa.

The eight teams vying for the WUBS championship are La Salle, Perbanas, NCCU, NSSU, Japan University Select, University of Sydney, Hakuoh University of Japan and Korea University. There are 12 total games scheduled in three days.

Against Perbanas, Quiambao had 16 points, 16 rebounds, four assists and three dunks. Michael Philips hit 15 points, Vhoris Marasigan 14, Henry Agunnane 13, JC Macalalag 12 and Raven Cortez 11. La Salle had more rebounds, 64-40 and assists, 23-10. A 10-0 blast to start the second quarter propelled the Archers to break the game open early. Organizers allow only 12 players to suit up so coach Topex Robinson sat out EJ Gollena, CJ Austria, Alex Konov and Matthew Rubico to rest them for today’s contest. La Salle’s in-residence recruits Jacob Cortez, Kean Baclaan, Luis Pablo and Mason Amos saw action in the tune-ups but WUBS organizers limited teams to play only those eligible this season.