Falling short of last season’s championship title, the University of the Philippines (UP) Men’s Basketball Team (MBT) braces for its redemption tour this Season 89.
A long road awaits, and after battling it out with the University of Santo Tomas (UST), there is much left to work on before taking back the crown.
Building UP
Despite knocking over the Growling Tigers in their season opener, 92-85, on Sunday, Sept. 13, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, the Fighting Maroons will have a long way to go before confidently dominating the season.
“It was a great game and I’m excited that we got the win, but we still got a lot to work on and a lot of stuff to improve on, too. We’ll head back to the lab and get the work in,” Maroon top scorer Francis Nnoruka said in the post-game interview.
The UP center concluded the match on top with a double-double performance of 18 points and 12 rebounds, followed by Co-Captain Rey Remogat and Miguel Yniguez, who chipped in 11 markers apiece.
Francis Nnoruka makes a two-point field goal in the opening game against UST. Photo by Aki Diaz
The road back to the finals will be rough, but the opening game promises a young team with blazing spirits and relentlessness.
“This group [of players] is really committed to work[ing] hard and work[ing] together, and para sa’kin siyempre, as we go on with the tournament, they will hone their own identity,” head coach Goldwin Monteverde said in the post-game press conference.
For a team beginning its campaign without the core of last season’s Maroon 5, there will be big shoes to fill, but there will always be new Maroons ready to take up the fight for State U.
Seesaw opening
It was a game of chase from the tipoff. State U established an early advantage, building a six-point lead, 13-7, in the first quarter as Nnoruka and Gani Stevens anchored UP’s early offensive game.
The Maroons pushed to maintain their momentum, but they could not tame the predators just yet.
Gani Stevens makes a two-point field goal in the opening match against UST. Photo by the UAAP Season 89 Media Team
UST came out firing in the second quarter, mounting a 21-6 run to overturn UP’s advantage, after Tiger forward Mark Llemit’s basket gave the yellow shirts the lead.
The España-based squad entered halftime ahead, 44-48, turning the Maroons’ early 10-point lead to a four-point deficit.
These lapses from State U in the second canto did not go unnoticed. Remogat shared that a halftime huddle pushed the team to improve their play in the remaining quarters.
“Noong halftime kasi, kinausap kami ng mga coaches na dapat mas gutom kami [kaysa] sa kalaban and dapat mas gusto namin manalo,” the Maroon guard shared in an interview with Tinig ng Plaridel.
“Noong halftime talaga, parang doon kami na-boost na maglaro, na mas ayusin, na mas pagandahin ‘yong laro namin,” he said.
Rey Remogat dribbles for a point against UST. Photo by the UAAP Season 89 Media Team
The newcomers conquer
Indeed, the Diliman-based squad’s hunger and drive opened the second half of the ball game.
Answering the call were the ones donning the maroon jersey for the first time.
Former Far Eastern University forward Veejay Pre sparked the comeback with his first bucket of the game following a Rainer Maga jumper, cutting UST’s nine-point lead to two, 53-55.
UP’s fight had begun to resurface.
Two more new faces were making their mark on the hard court. Former Jose Maria College guard Arvie Poyos and Red-Lion-turned-Fighting Maroon James Payosing drilled buckets to knot the game at 60-all with two minutes left in the third frame.
With the Tigers losing the rhythm that gave them the lead, the maroon shirts seized the opportunity with Sean Alter’s back-to-back points, boosting them to a 66-62 lead heading into the final quarter.
Arvie Poyos driving past three UST players in the season opener match. Photo by Aki Diaz
The momentum had fully swung in favor of Diliman.
State U’s fightback was no longer shouldered solely by familiar faces as Payosing, Pre and Poyos impressed in their UP debut, injecting the spark the team needed during crunch time.
The Fighting Maroons’ teamwork shone through as they picked themselves up to work towards a goal and bounce back, an observation that Monteverde could not deny.
“Whatever we faced especially in the first half, noong lumamang na ang UST, I was observing how we would respond to it and then for me, they responded well,” the shot-caller shared in the post-game interview.
By the final quarter, UP found its shape again and gained its biggest advantage at 85-74 with under three minutes ticking.
Despite comeback attempts from the Tigers, the Fighting Maroons created a comfortable 10-point lead with six seconds remaining in the match.
UST’s Collins Akowe knocked down a triple in the dying seconds but the late basket was ultimately not enough.
The resolve to win, which was proven on the court shared with the Growling Tigers, must once again rekindle for this season’s first Battle of Katipunan on Saturday, Sept. 19, at the same venue.
