UP made a huge rally against La Salle, winning 92-91. JD Cagulangan was the star of the game, making 29 points, 8 assists, and getting 9 steals. Malik Diouf was also a major contributor, making 9 blocks.
In the first quarter, La Salle went off to a quick start, making the first 12 shots to go 25-2 in just 4 minutes. Cagulangan committed 8 turnovers in that time period alone. Coach Goldwin Monteverde was heard saying, “I will cut Cagulangan as soon as I can.” The first quarter ended with La Salle up 47-2.
The La Sallian minority remained where an ocean of maroon once was.
In the second quarter, La Salle made 4 straight threes to go on a 12-0 run, up 59-2, thanks to 5 UP turnovers in just 18 seconds. UP called a timeout right after. Kevin Quimbao said, “As early as then [the timeout], I could already see UP fans leaving the arena, but the La Salle crowd was having the time of their lives, booing at the UP chants whenever they would be played.” The quarter ended with La Salle up 69-4.
At halftime, the La Salle performance was so loud, it could be heard from NAIA. But the UP performance was so quiet, because only two UP fans, Rafael Mercado and Rhuel Mercado, were there. Well, quiet from UP’s perspective. Because the whole time, the drums and pep squad were much quieter than the La Salle crowd chanting, “BOO!!!”
In the third quarter, La Salle continued destroying the fallen empire of UP. La Salle fans started moving behind the UP bench and throwing bananas. The quarter ended with La Salle still up, 88-10.
But in the fourth quarter, UP made a huge rally. La Salle was not even able to inbound successfully for 9 minutes, with UP making 100 steals in the quarter alone. Finally, with 1:52 left, La Salle up 88-86, Harold Alarcon
made a three to put UP up, 89-88. Malik Diouf then blocked Kevin Quimbao, who was trying to make a layup. UP fans who were still in the area tried to re-enter, but could not because of the MOA Arena’s no re-entry policy. So only two fans were actually happy.
The La Salle crowd finally cheered after utter silence for almost 10 minutes.
However, with 9 seconds left, and the La Salle crowd, actually, the whole crowd quiet, Evan Nelle made a desperation three to put La Salle up, 91-89. The decibel rate went up from 2 dB to 890 dB. You could even hear it as far as Sucat. Not yet in the penalty, La Salle kept fouling UP. But with just 0.7 seconds left, CJ Cansino made a full-court shot to win the game, 92-91. And so, only Rafael and Rhuel were left cheering. La Salle fans left immediately, refusing to sing their school hymn.
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