Maroons, Archers seal rematch

MANILA, Philippines — It’s La Salle against University of the Philippines in the UAAP men’s basketball finals for the second straight season.

Armed with win-once bonuses, the defending champions Archers and the Maroons lived up to their lofty billing by making short work of their separate counterparts in the Final Four yesterday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The top-seeded La Salle hardly broke a sweat against No. 4 Adamson, 70-55, to replicate its 27.5-point winning margin versus the same team in the elimination round as No. 2 UP earlier fended off the third-ranked Santo Tomas, 78-69, for its fourth straight finals appearance.

La Salle and UP begin their best-of-three titular showdown on Dec. 8 at the same venue while awaiting the results of the stepladder playoffs in women’s basketball led by former-seven peat champion National U, which is already in the finals after a 14-0 sweep of the elims.

Presumptive MVP Kevin Quiambao scattered 14 points, three rebounds, two assists, three steals and two blocks in only 26 minutes of play as the Archers raced to a 36-17 start and led by as many as 27 points.

Joshua David added 11 points in the easy victory while Mike Phillips and Lian Ramiro had eight and seven, respectively.

“These guys did what they’re supposed to do so it’s nice to be back in the finals,” said coach Topex Robinson.

Earlier, the Fighting Maroons trailed in the majority of the first half before unloading a telling 21-4 rally to take command en route to a gritty win behind a balanced onslaught.

Harold Alarcon scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half – converting contested fadeaways one after the other – as the Maroons inched closer to their title redemption bid after losing to the La Salle Green Archers last season.

Alarcon added three rebounds and three steals as Francis Lopez backstopped him with similar output. Reyland Torres was also instrumental in UP’s deciding third-quarter surge, where he scored six of his 13 points highlighted by a stepback triple to make it a commanding 55-44 gap for the Maroons.