Archers sweep UTL meet

FUKUOKA – Six games in three days. That was the grind La Salle endured in sweeping the University Top League (UTL) tournament at the Yoshinogari Town Cultural Gym in Saga Prefecture, about a 1 1/2 hour drive from this Japanese port city. The toughest schedule was on the third playing day last Friday when the Archers battled Kyushu Kyoritsu University at 11am then faced Japan University of Economics (also known as Nihon Keizi) at 2 p.m. with only a one-hour interval for lunch and rest.

Overall, the trip was worth it, said Archers head coach Topex Robinson who guided the team with assistants Caloy Garcia, Gian Nazario, Oliver Bunyi, OG Ng and Pat Melencio. Two assistants Mon Jose and JB Sison couldn’t make it to attend to PBA duties. Robinson said the trip accomplished three things – bonding with seven rookies (including Janti Miller, Bonn Daja and Joaquin Ludovice who will be lined up for Season 90) and veterans to develop chemistry, exposure for the newbies to be familiar with coaching systems and experimentation with offensive/defensive schemes. “We saw a lot of new guys stepping up like Seven (Gagate) and Mo (Kulang) and holdovers like Lebron (Daep) playing key roles,” said Robinson. “We’re experimenting with different zone formations, dribble drive offense and big and small combinations. We committed mistakes during the tournament and we’ll learn to make sure we don’t make the same when UAAP begins.”

UAAP Season 89 opens on Sept. 12 and games start the next day. Based on the usual order of competition, the Archers’ first three opponents will be NU, Ateneo and UST. La Salle is gearing to become the first UAAP men’s basketball back-to-back champion in six years. The Archers are hoping to make it to their fourth straight Finals, winning two of the last three.

Six Archers are graduating this season and they’re looking forward to a memorable sendoff. The seniors are Earl Abadam, Mason Amos, Jason Cibull (one-and-done), Jacob Cortez, JC Macalalag and Henry Agunanne. The newcomers are Gagate, Kulang, Cibull, Joaquin Tovera, Kyle Sardon, Ram Sharma and Mikey Cortez. Aside from the seniors, returning are Daep, Doy Dungo, Vhoris Marasigan, Luis Pablo, Guillian Quines and Gian Gomez. Gone from last campaign are Mike Phillips, Kean Baclaan, EJ Gollena, Rhyle Melencio, Bright Nwankwo and Denzel Dagdag.

At the UTL, La Salle opened with an 85-70 demolition of Kanagawa University as Tovera hit 14. Ginnojo Yamaguchi, a 5-6 spitfire, shot 18 points. Then came the 83-79 thriller over Chuo University whose 5-10 point guard and former Japanese U17 national skipper Suguru Ishiguchi tallied 21 points. Cortez had 16 points. The Archers took win No. 3, crushing Nagoya Gakuin University, 116-71, as Miller erupted for 24 and Gagate chipped in 12. Next was the 76-69 decision over Kyoto Sangyo University led by 6-2 Seiki Matsumoto, 5-10 Japanese-Filipino Haito Katahara (Filipina mother Cristina Reyes is from Manila) and 6-8 Raymond Solomon. Abadam shot 15, Cortez 14 and Pablo 13. The fifth win was over Kyushu, 97-77 with Miller tallying 15, Cortez 14, Amos 13 and Kulang 12. Finally, University of Economics went down, 83-74 as Daep hit 14, Pablo and Dungo 12 each and Cortez 10. The Archers head to Roxas City for an invitational tournament on Aug. 21-26 with Adamson, Perpetual Help and two Australian schools.