Atkins fires 20, La Salle routs UP in UAAP opener

Simon Atkins showed his aggressiveness by scoring 16 of his game-high 20 points in the first half to lead host La Salle to a convincing 80-62 rout of University of the Philippines at the start of the 73rd UAAP basketball tournament on Saturday at the Araneta Coliseum.

The veteran guard, one of team's most popular players who only averaged 2.2 points per game last season, fired four three-pointers to help the Green Archers take a slim 34-31 advantage after 20 minutes of action. But it was the Taft-based dribblers' bench players who finished the job in the final two periods to secure their first opening day victory since 2007. It also gave new coach Dindo Pumaren a rousing debut with La Salle after taking over from brother Franz following a disappointing 2009 campaign. "I'm glad everybody played well," said Pumaren. "We were able to catch UP flat in this game." "They gave energy but bottom line we played well and the aggressiveness was there," he added. Maui Villanueva posted a double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds while Sam Marata was the team's third double-digit scorer with 10 but despite missing seven of his 11 shots from the field. La Salle's biggest lead came at 20 points (78-58) with 1:42 left to play on two foul shots by second year center Yutien Andrada. "The past few years, I was a little bit hesitating so I tried to worked on my shooting in the offseason," said Atkins, who started his fiery shooting by scoring five of La Salle’s first eight points in the first period. "I thought, people didn't respect my shooting but I think this time our opponents will respect me more." Mike Silungan, who spent two years of residency before finally getting a chance to play in the UAAP, had a rough debut shooting 7-of-18 from the field and turned the ball over six times. Still, the rookie managed to score 17 points to share topscoring honors with veteran Woody Co. The Maroons struggled the entire game shooting 5-of-27 from the three-point range for an 18 percent clip. – JVP, GMANews.TV