Archers win without Kevin

MANILA, Philippines — No Kevin Quiambao, no problem as EcoOil-La Salle opened its three-peat bid with an emphatic 110-68 win over neophyte CCI-Yengskivel in the PBA D-League Aspirants’ Cup opener Thursday at the Filoil EcoOil Centre.

Jonnel Policarpio rose to the occasion with a near triple-double of 22 points on 10-of-14 shooting, 10 rebounds and seven assists in only 21 minutes to lead the way in the easy victory of the back-to-back champions.

La Salle hardly felt the absence of reigning D-League and UAAP MVP Quiambao, who will sit out the tourney after a hectic campaign with Gilas Pilipinas. Aaron Buensalida, EJ Gollena and CJ Austria chipped in 16, 15, and 14 points, respectively.

Captain Mike Phillips had seven points, 11 rebounds, four assists and two blocks while new guys Vhoris Marasigan and Henry Agunanne tallied eight each in a scattered offense.

“It’s a challenge for us to develop the new players as early as now to give them time to adjust to playing within the system,” said deputy coach Caloy Garcia.

“I told the players that this is the first major tournament for us after winning the championship in the UAAP. This is gonna be something new to us,” he added.