Maroons ward off Tigers to close in on 1st-round sweep

Games Saturday
(Mall of Asia Arena)
11:30 a.m. – FEU vs UST (women)
1:30 p.m. – Ateneo vs NU (women)
4:30 p.m. – FEU vs UST (men)
6:30 p.m. – Ateneo vs NU (men)

MANILA, Philippines – Still untouched, still unmatched.

Host University of the Philippines waxed hot late to tame University of Santo Tomas, 81-70, and zero in on a first-round sweep in the UAAP Season 87 men’s basketball tournament Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The Maroons unleashed a staggering 21-4 rally bridging the third and fourth quarter to flip a 58-61 deficit to a sudden 79-65 gap on their way to a 6-0 record with all of their wins coming in double digits to issue a strong statement to the rest of the field.

But more than that, UP in its redemption tour set the red carpet clean, dazzling and glittering for La Salle in their highly-anticipated rematch this Sunday at the Mall of Asia Arena to end the first round.

The Maroons did it behind a scattered attack led by Harold Alarcon with 16 points highlighted by back-to-back fadeaways to fend off any comeback attempt left on the Tigers. 

Francis Lopez stuffed the statsheet with 15 points, five rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocks while Terrence Fortea and Gerry Abadiano chipped in 11 and 10 points, respectively.

Quentin Millora-Brown and Janjan Felicilda also added eight points each to make it up for the absence of ace floor general JD Cagulangan, who was under the weather but should be ready for the main event against the Archers.

“This is a tough UST team, a much better team from last season. Kudos to them. We’re just fortunate in the end that we’re able to hold them down,” said deputy mentor Christian Luanzon.

“We had a much better second half, definitely. We limit them to just 28 in the second half after allowing 23 in the first quarter. The players responded to all the things coach Goldwin (Monteverde) told at halftime.”

UP beat Ateneo, 77-61, University of the East, 81-71, National U, 89-62, Far Eastern U, 69-58 and Adamson, 69-57, but was caught napping by the capable UST squad in the opening salvo.

The Maroons trailed by as many as nine, 16-25, following Kyle Paranada’s jumper as the Tigers came out with guns ablaze before slowly but surely trimming the gap to make it a dogfight at the break.

As both teams traded heymakers, Mo Tounkara slammed it on transition to give the Tigers a 61-58 breather in the 2:37 mark of the third quarter that, however, became one of the few highlights for them the rest of the way.

UP went on to erupt for 21 points while allowing UST to just four, including bleeding for only two until the last two minutes of the fourth quarter for a knockout blow.

It was not only until the 2:07 mark when the Tigers finally ended the drought with Nic Cabañero’s freebies as UST absorbed its second straight loss against the league’s top two contenders after also bowing to La Salle, 88-67, to fall to 3-3 with Adamson at joint fourth.

Tounkara dropped 21 points and five rebounds but his minor ankle injury early in the fourth quarter spelled doom for the Tigers, who also drew efforts from Cabañero (16) and Forthsy Padrigao (15) but to no avail.

The scores:

UP 81 – Alarcon 16, Lopez 15, Fortea 11, Abadiano 10, Millora-Brown 8, Felicilda 8, Ududo 6, Torculas 5, Torres 2, Bayla 0, Belmonte 0, Briones 0, Alter 0.

UST 70 – Tounkara 21, Cabanero 15, Padrigao 14, Paranada 5, Manaytay 4, Llemit 4, Danting 3, Crisostomo 2, Mahmood 2, Acido 0, Robinson 0, Laure 0, Pangilinan 0, Estacio 0, Calum 0.

Quarterscores: 16-23, 40-42, 68-63, 81-70.