Quick Fire: Ben Mbala silences Desiderio as DLSU Green Archers beat UP Fighting Maroons

(Photo Credit: Arvin Lim, ABS-CBN Sports)

DLSU Green Archers def. UP Fighting Maroons 85-62

Notable Players

Ben Mbala, DLSU (27 points, 14 rebounds, 7 offensive rebounds, 28.33 minutes of hounding Paul Desiderio): "You don't like me when I am angry" is a phrase patented by the Hulk, that fierce green giant.  When Mbala got angry, he decisively shut down Paul Desiderio from making any buckets on his watch.  Mbala blanked the UP rapid shooter who was only able to cough out two successive triples in the second quarter when La Salle shifted to their 1-2-2 leaving the wings open.
Mbala made more strong backdoor cuts that resulted into easy twos or sending him to the line where he made 12 of 14 attempts.

Ricci Rivero, DLSU (20 points, 3 rebounds, 2 steals): Talk about coming back from scoring coma, Ricci Rivero came into life for the 3rd straight game aptly supporting Mbala in keeping UP's defense honest.  Using that unbelievable wingspan to the max, Ricci Rivero side stepped his way to +19 for La Salle while he was on the floor.

Kib Montalbo, DLSU (12 points, 3 assists, 1 steal): Captain Kib is back.  Shredding off the ghost of flubbing the inbound of the fateful last play against Ateneo, Montalbo came alive and swishing from downtown just like old times.

Jun Manzo, UP (13 3rd quarter points)
Talk about doing a CPR to a passed out UP offense as the Cebu sensation sizzled in the 3rd quarter in bringing the Fighting Maroons back to life.

Ibra Quattara, UP (9 points and 12 rebounds): Going against the La Salle bigs was never easy but Quattara toiled through battling under the boards and getting second-chance points.

Quick Analysis:

- Streetball has always done this but it was surreal seeing this in a UAAP game.  Knowing that Desiderio will abuse Mayhem by sniping from afar just like the first round, Coach Aldin Ayo placed the agile Mbala to stick to Desiderio like super glue.  The result, Desiderio had zero field goals for 3 quarters except for a couple of 3s he sank in the second.  Desiderio could no longer deliver his usually efficient 40.2% from field and his 18.1 points per game.

Desiderio could not even shake off the shock caused by Mbala defending him that he went 1 of 4 from the charity line.

-  The absence of a Plan B was evident with the Fighting Maroons.  When Desiderio was fully covered and the offense can no longer flow through him, the Maroons chucked more 3s and fared horribly shooting 28.13% from downtown.  A far cry from their 45.71% from 3-points when the Maroons defeated the Archers in the first round.

-  La Salle's offensive flow is getting its' groove back.  Expecting a deny-Mbala-defense, La Salle perfected the lob and the backdoor cuts that UP was not able to adjust to in time.  Ricci Rivero became the centerpiece of the La Salle wing offense with his triple threat capability, the three, the drive and the dish.