The University of the Philippines (UP) Fighting Maroons began UAAP Season 87 in different directions as they took on the Ateneo Blue Eagles at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum (Men’s) and the Adamson University Gym (Women’s).
The UP Men’s Basketball Team (MBT) finished their Battle of Katipunan assignment with a blowout victory, while the UP Women’s Basketball Team (WBT) absorbed a loss to kick off their tourney.
On the right track
The UP MBT kicked off their redemption campaign with a 77-61 victory against the Ateneo de Manila University in a jam-packed Smart-Araneta Coliseum on Saturday, Sept. 7.
This win of theirs became all the more fulfilling, just hours after UP’s spectacular opening ceremony headlined by the UP-bred iconic rock band Eraserheads that kickstarted the university’s iconic hosting year.
The Fighting Maroons hung on the edge in the 17-16 opening frame, but bounced back in the second quarter after building a 10-point lead over the Blue Eagles, thanks to Maroon gunner JD Cagulangan’s back-to-back layups.
However, head coach Goldwin Monteverde and his team felt that they started off rough, but knew how to get the Diliman-based squad’s heads in the game.
“I felt that we started tight in the first half, but when we started moving the ball around, we were able to do what we wanted. Nakuha namin yung confidence namin as a team,” said Monteverde during the post-game press conference.
And this said confidence came into fruition immediately after halftime when State U brandished an 8-2 run, with a midrange bucket courtesy of rookie Jacob Bayla pushing their archrivals staring into a whopping 18-point deficit.
From here on, the team’s confidence and natural chemistry shone the brightest at the payoff period when Cagulangan hit a one-legged jumper and Francis Lopez poured five consecutive points and pumped up the UP crowd after two powerful dunks, 73-60, to put the game away with 2:27 left.
UP shot 49.2 percent from the field, compared to Ateneo’s who shot 28.8 percent, while also capitalizing their advantages in assists (23-19) and rebounds (47-40).
Cagulangan was the Maroons’ offensive forerunner with an outstanding double-double of 17 points, seven rebounds, and 10 assists.
Among a new batch of faces for the team, UAAP first-timer Quentin Millora-Brown stood out after scoring seven points and 17 rebounds. Lopez also contributed 14 markers and notched six boards.
On the flip side, rookie Jared Bahay, who committed first with the Fighting Maroons earlier last year, registered 13 points and five assists for the Blue Eagles.
First fall
It was a different story inside the Adamson University Gym as the UP WBT fell to the Ateneo Blue Eagles, 68-79, on Sunday, Sept. 9.
The absence of Season 86 Rookie of the Year Favour Onoh was immediately felt by the Maroon shirts as they suffered a disadvantage in the rebounding department (29-59), leading to a huge drawback in second chance points (2-21).
State U traded blows against the Blue Eagles in the opening minutes and took the lead with Kaye Pesquera sinking two from the charity stripe, 21-18, halfway through the first quarter.
Finding themselves in a 13-point hole early in the second salvo, UP’s switch from halfcourt to full-court defense forced a slew of turnovers on Ateneo’s side, allowing a 12-4 run capped off by a free throw conversion from Louna Ozar to trim the lead to six, 38-44 at the halfway mark.
A cold spell hit the Maroons’ offense in the third period, with the squad banking on veteran Achrissa Maw’s eight of their ten points of the quarter to mitigate the opposition’s 16-point cushion, 49-65, entering the final frame.
During the closeout, the trio of Pesquera, Maw and Ozar sparked off a late rally to bring down the deficit to ten, 63-73, but was proven too late with the sizable lead allowing their Katipunan counterparts to steal away the game.
While there were struggles in the offense inside the arc, the undersized State U squad saw a silver lining in their defense producing 14 steals compared to Ateneo’s nine.
Maw stepped up for the Maroon shirts, lashing out 15 of her 23 points during the second half to go along with three rebounds and a pair of steals.
Pesquera and Ozar also crossed the double-digit tally, putting up 17 and 16 markers, respectively.
Meanwhile, Blue Eagle Kacey Dela Rosa paced her team with 34 points.
Both squads aim to snag wins as they take on the University of the East on Sept. 14 at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum, with UP WBT taking on the hardcourt at 1:30 p.m. and UP MBT tips off at 6:30 p.m.
UP MBT QUARTER SCORES: 17-16, 40-30, 58-45, 77-61
UP WBT QUARTER SCORES: 22-29, 39-49, 49-65, 68-79
