The University of the Philippines (UP) Fighting Maroons steered to different paths as they take on their fifth games against Adamson University in the UAAP Season 87 Basketball Tournament on Saturday, Sept. 28, at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
The UP Men’s Basketball Team (MBT) maintained an untarnished 5-0 record, while the UP Women’s Basketball Team (WBT) settled in the middle of the pack with their 2-3 slate.
Fight and flight
Overcoming an early 22-point deficit, the UP MBT mustered up their fighting spirit in a strong second half performance to mount a 69-57 comeback win against the Adamson Soaring Falcons and remain as the top-ranking squad in the tournament.
The Fighting Maroons’ deep roster spelled the difference in the come-from-behind victory with 11 out of 14 players contributing on the scoring department and 51 points coming off the bench compared to the opposition’s 31.
While graduating point guard JD Cagulangan took the opening bucket right from the tip-off, the Falcons quickly took flight, firing on all cylinders to bury the maroon shirts in a 9-26 disadvantage by the end of the opening frame.
As a Matt Erolon trey gave Adamson its biggest lead at 9-31 early in the second quarter, State U began to find their groove midway through the period as a steal-and-lay from Francis Lopez sparked a 12-1 run, shifting the tides in favor of the Diliman-based squad.
Adding up joint efforts from Harold Alarcon, Mark Belmonte, and Janjan Felicilda off the bench, UP trimmed the gap into single digits, 27-33, at halftime.
State U rode the momentum during the third frame with a midrange jumper from Cagulangan paving the way for UP to take the lead for the first time since the opening tip before Terrence Fortea’s back-to-back treys widened the gap between the Falcons, 44-40.
Goldwin Montervede’s stalwarts continued their offensive surge in the final frame with Alarcon converting a deuce from the charity stripe to extend the advantage to 16 points with 6:13 left in the game.
Adamson attempted to recreate their run in the first half during the last quarter but efforts were futile as the Diliman-based squad fought tooth and nail to earn their fifth consecutive win of the season.
Fortea stepped up for the Maroons after fielding in 13 points with perfect accuracy from all departments, along with five rebounds, an assist, and two steals, closely followed by Millora-Brown with a double-double of 11 markers and 14 boards.
Alarcon also chipped in a game-high 14 markers and grabbed 8 rebounds.
Facing their biggest deficit of the season, head coach Goldwin Monteverde remains firm that they would not let their undefeated record make them complacent for their upcoming games.
“Even sa practices namin, we’d always remind ourselves that we’d always do our best … Nasa early part pa lang tayo ng tournament, there’s nothing to be complacent about. But then, syempre, alam nating imperfect ‘yung laro. Sometimes the team is lacking but it doesn’t mean we’re complacent,” Monteverde said.
On the flip side, Mathew Montebon and John Calisay each contributed 12 points for the Soaring Falcons.
Hopes shot down
A fourth-quarter rally proved not enough to lift the UP WBT to victory as they fell to a 56-60 heartbreaker against the Adamson Lady Falcons.
With rookie guard Camille Nolasco being sidelined, adding to the list of UP’s woes, offensive lapses became a big factor in the neck-to-neck showdown as State U allowed 14 points coming off their turnovers, enough to drop them to a 2-3 record.
Coming off a hot start engineered by Louna Ozar, UP maintained a firm control of the opening moments as their tough interior defense limited Adamson’s output to single digits, heading to a 16-9 advantage after the first ten minutes of play.
However, the maroon shirts’ lead immediately waded in the second salvo as a mix of empty possessions and their cracked coverage inside the paint allowed the Lady Falcons to brew a massive 21-4 run to close out the first half, 27-33.
Early in the third, Ozar jump-started UP’s offense once again with a personal six-point surge followed by Kaye Pesquera delivering a long bomb beyond the arc to bring UP within five, 33-38.
The Fighting Maroons entered the payoff period exchanging baskets with the San Marcelino-based squad, until a 9-2 surge capped off with a Pesquera trey trimmed the deficit to one, 54-55, with 1:33 ticks left.
Despite the gallant stand, State U ran out of steam during the closeout, as Adamson escaped with two shots from the charity stripe, shutting the game out for good.
Sophomore standout Ozar displayed consistency for her team, notching a double-double composed of 15 points and 13 rebounds while dishing out four assists.
Achrissa Maw and Pesquera delivered timely baskets for State U with 16 and 8 markers, respectively.
Meanwhile, center Victoria Adeshina poured in 18 points and 7 boards to power the Lady Falcons towards their fourth win.
Both squads will be entering their penultimate games for the first round against the UST Growling Tigers and Tigresses on Oct. 2, with the UP WBT starting at 11:30 a.m. and the UP MBT hitting the court at 4:30 p.m. at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.
UP MBT QUARTER SCORES: 9-26, 27-33, 51-46, 69-57
UP WBT QUARTER SCORES: 16-9, 24-36, 38-44, 56-60
