La Salle wallops AMA by 83, sets D-League record

EcoOil-La Salle dealt AMA Online an 83-point drubbing, 126-43, in the 2023 Aspirants’ Cup to set a new PBA D-League winning margin record at the Ynares Sports Arena on Thursday, May 25.

The Green Archers zoomed to a 34-4 lead to take the fight out of the Titans on their way to erasing the D-League’s previous winning margin record of 76 points set by Tanduay when it defeated Zark’s Burgers, 141-65, in the 2017 Foundation Cup.

EcoOil-La Salle improved to 4-1 in the team standings and shares the lead with Marinerong Pilipino-San Beda. The win also bolster its chances for a top two finish in the elimination round, which merits an outright semifinals berth.

Ben Phillips and Raven Cortez asserted the Green Archers’ might down low as they scored 19 points apiece for the Green Archers, who got scoring contributions from every player they fielded on the court.

Bright Nwankwo, Francis Escandor, Mark Nonoy and Aaron Buensalida chipped in 15, 14, 13 and 11 points, respectively.

“We’re not thinking about the [winning margin] record. It’s good that we (eclipsed) it but we just focused on getting better. It’s an opportunity for us to get better and we talked about it before the game na we won’t take it easy on any team,” said La Salle deputy mentor Gian Nazario.

“Despite this game against AMA, we still think there are things we can be better at,” added Nazario, whose EcoOil-La Salle has one more crucial game left against Wangs Basketball @27 Strikers-Letran (2-2) on Thursday at the same venue.

Earl Ceniza and Reed Baclig scored 10 points each for the Titans, who ended their campaign winless at 0-6.

The Scores:

EcoOil-DLSU 126 – Cortez 19, B. Phillips 19, Nwankwo 15, Escandor 14, Nonoy 13. Buensalida 11, Gollena 8, Alao 6, Abadam 5, M. Phillips 5, David 4, Estacio 4, Nelle 3.

AMA Online 43 – Ceniza 10, Baclig 10, Dela Rosa 5, Golloso 4, Alina 3, Cantoma 3, Del Pilar 3, Bentulan 2, Panlilio 2, Fernandez 1, Yambao 0, Silvarez 0, Geronga 0, Macaranas 0.

Quarterscores: 42-10, 80-29, 109-41, 126-43.