The University of the Philippines (UP) Fighting Maroons celebrated a pair of wins this weekend, Oct. 28 and 29, in the UAAP Season 86 men’s and women’s basketball tournaments.
The UP Men’s Basketball Team (UP MBT) avenged their only loss in the tournament so far against the Ateneo de Manila (ADMU) Blue Eagles, while the UP Women’s Basketball Team (UP WBT) snapped their two-game losing streak after conquering the Adamson (AdU) Lady Falcons.
The UP MBT now holds an 8-1 record to fly solo atop the standings again. On the other hand, the women’s squad secured a 7-2 record to share second place with the UST Growling Tigresses.
Redemption arc
The UP MBT escaped round two of the “Battle of Katipunan” with a gutsy win over the Ateneo Blue Eagles, 65-60, at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum despite the absence of star players CJ Cansino and JD Cagulangan.
The Maroons got off to a slow start as they only entered the scoreboard more than 4 minutes into the game courtesy of a dunk from high-flying sophomore Aldous Torculas.
State U eventually kept up with the Blue Eagles’ pace as the quarter ended with a score of 11-all.
As head coach Coach Goldwyn Monteverde stated, “It took a while before [UP] got into a rhythm offensively” as the Maroons only made most of their shots in the second salvo, including Gerry Abadiano’s buzzer-beater trey that closed the first half with a 2-point UP lead, 32-30.
During the third quarter, the maroon shirts imposed their will on both sides of the court as a 3-pointer from season-debuting sharpshooter Terrence Fortea gave UP a 10-point cushion entering the fourth frame.
The Blue Eagles, however, did not give up as they made a thrilling comeback with guard Jared Brown’s pull-up jumper tying the game at 54-all.
Nonetheless, State U kept their composure as forward Francis Lopez and guards Harold Alarcon and Abadiano drained crucial shots to pull away from the blue shirts.
Despite the late-game heroics of Ateneo rookie sensation Mason Amos and his 3-pointer that cut the lead down to 3, UP ultimately sealed the deal with a pair of free throws.
Abadiano led the Maroons with a season-high 22 points and three rebounds, while Lopez, Alarcon and Malick Diouf chipped in 10 points each.
For the blue side, Jared Brown scored 18 markers, with big men Joseph Obasa and Amos also adding 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Back on track
After suffering back-to-back losses, the UP WBT is now back to the win column after soaring past the AdU Lady Falcons, 57-45, at the Adamson University Gym.
The UP WBT sustained a slow start as they struggled to keep up with the Lady Falcons’ guards, resulting in a 3-point deficit by the end of the opening quarter, 10-13.
The first few minutes of the second salvo saw a back-and-forth affair between the two teams, but State U eventually regained their momentum following an Erika Jimenez drive.
Rhea Sanchez and Favour Onoh then drilled 5 and 2 markers respectively, which helped UP retake the lead by the end of the first half, 26-22.
State U continued their production following an Archissa Maw basket to ignite a 17-4 run in the third frame, boosting the team’s lead to a dominant 43-26.
Despite the Lady Falcons’ efforts to trim down UP’s lead in the last minutes, the maroon shirts maintained their composure and never looked back.
First-year standout Onoh led the maroons’ charge with 8 points and 14 rebounds, with Kaye Pesquera, Rizza Lozada and Sanchez also notching 8 markers each.
Meanwhile, Victoria Adeshina stood tall for the Lady Falcons, contributing 24 points and 11 rebounds.
UP WBT center Favour Onoh attempts to block a Victoria Adeshina (AdU) layup. Photo by UAAP Media Team
UP WBT head coach Paul Ramos says he hopes their triumph against the Lady Falcons will set the team up for more wins in the future.
“We’re happy about the win. We’re trying to get the momentum going, and we’re going back to trying to achieve our process goals,” said Ramos during the post-game interview.
The Fighting Maroons will try to improve and bank on their momentum on Sunday, Nov. 5, at the Mall of Asia Arena, where the UP WBT will have their own shot at redemption against the Ateneo Blue Eagles, while the UP MBT will vie for another win against the DLSU Green Archers.
UP MBT QUARTER SCORES: 11-11, 32-30, 49- 39, 65-60
UP WBT QUARTER SCORES: 10-13, 26-22, 43-26, 57-45
