Maroons clip Falcons to book UAAP Final Four berth
MANILA, Philippines — For the seventh straight season, University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons is barging into the UAAP Season 88 men’s basketball tournament semis after keeping a gutsy Adamson side at bay, 70-65, in wire-to-wire fashion Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Fighting Maroons punched a ticket to the Final Four as they hiked their win-loss record to 9-3 with their fifth straight win, while Adamson dropped to 5-7 with back-to-back losses.
After the game, UP head coach Goldwin Monteverde acknowledged that while they are already assured of a semis berth, things will only be tougher moving forward.
“Today, we started out strong in the first quarter, but then we ended up losing each quarter…. There’s a lot of things for us to improve, we still need to keep our focus pa rin, we’re trying to get better pa,” Monteverde told reporters.
“We have ttwo more games here in the second round. For sure naman, pag-abot ng Final Four, kumbaga, it’s going to be tougher competition, kailangan talaga, each game, kung anong ma-imrpove natin, kailangan ma-improve,” he added.
UP started the game waxing hot, going up by 12, 20-8, after the first 10 minutes.
The lead grew to 15, 31-16, in the second quarter, but Adamson went down swinging.
Slowly, the Falcons sliced the deficit to three, 42-45, in the third quarter after a Matty Erolon jumper.
They later made it a two-point game, 56-58, with 4:11 remaining after a jumper by Ray Allen Torres.
But Reyland Torres and Gerry Abadiano responded with big shots to make it a 65-57 UP lead with 2:02 left.
Monty Montebon tried to spark Adamson back into the game, but finishing touches by Francis Nnoruka, as well as Montebon’s crucial missed free throws, shut the door on them.
Nnoruka and Abadiano led the way for UP with 16 markers apiece. The former had 12 boards, two swats and a steal, while the latter sank two 3-pointers.
Torres powered the Falcons with 23 points while Erolon had 19. Three of the five starters of the game – Manu Anabo, OJ Ojarikre and Austin Ronzone – went scoreless.
Both teams will be back in action on Wednesday, as Adamson takes on La Salle at 1:30 p.m., while the Maroons will face the Ateneo Blue Eagles at 4:30 p.m. Both games will be at the Mall of Asia Arena.
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