La Salle's Mbala wants to be known as more than a scorer

MANILA, Philippines – Nearly getting lost in the hoopla of Alvin Pasaol's amazing 49-point scoring outburst on Wednesday was the feat of reigning UAAP Most Valuable Player Ben Mbala, who reset his own career-high for the third time in UAAP Season 80.

The two engaged in a shootout in the La Salle-University of the East (UE) game on Wednesday, with the Green Archers emerging triumphant over the Red Warriors, 106-100.

La Salle center Ben Mbala. Arvin Lim, ABS-CBN Sports

Mbala finished with a new career-best of 39 points, but it's fair to assume that the Cameroonian could have scored more had he not been subbed out of the game with 3:12 left and the defending champions leading by a comfortable margin.

Mbala reached a new career-high in his very first game of the season, tallying 32 points against Adamson. He broke that in their very next game, with a 34-point output in a loss to University of the Philippines. He "only" had 29 against University of Santo Tomas last weekend, but more than made up for it against UE.

"I was just trying to play smart," said Mbala, who made 10 of his 12 field goal attempts, and 19 of a whopping 20 free throws.

Author: Camille B. Naredo, ABS-CBN News
Full Article: http://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/10/05/17/la-salles-mbala-wants-to-be-known-as-more-than-a-scorer