The University of the Philippines (UP) Fighting Maroons bowed to the revenge-seeking De La Salle University (DLSU) Green Archers, 82-60, in Game 2 of the UAAP Season 86 best-of-three finals in front of a 20,863-strong crowd at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum on Sunday, Dec. 3.
The loss comes after a huge 97-67 Game 1 win on Nov. 29, the biggest margin of victory in the UAAP Finals since Season 61.
Recently crowned Mythical Five member Malick Diouf paced the Maroons in the loss with a double-double of 11 points and 11 rebounds, while team skipper CJ Cansino added 11 markers.
Diouf’s personal 4-0 run helped State U rush to an early clinical 12-2 cushion before DLSU guard Joshua David’s pair of treys trimmed the deficit at the end of the first canto, 24-27.
However, the Taft-based squad doubled down on both ends to limit UP’s production in the second frame, holding them scoreless for the first 7 minutes.
Off a 28-all deadlock, lead scorer Francis Escandor drained back-to-back triples to push the Green Archers to a 6-point breakaway, while CJ Austria scored six consecutive points to extend the DLSU lead, 41-32.
Cansino and Harold Alarcon closed the second canto with the struggling Maroons’ only two field goals, 38-44.
CJ Cansino and the UP Men’s Basketball Team face their emotional loss against the DLSU Green Archers at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum. Photo by Sandra Remotigue
The third quarter was not much different as La Salle’s production stayed consistent, while UP continued to miss their openings.
State U was limited to 11 points anew, enabling the green shirts’ hot shooting to stretch to a 16-point edge entering the last quarter, 65-49.
This story continued in the final canto as the Diliman-based squad’s uphill battle against La Salle’s defense seemed lost, with the deficit pushed to 20 early in the quarter.
The game slipped further away from UP, as a fouled-out Diouf and a trifecta of DLSU three-pointers ultimately sealed the Fighting Maroons’ sorry loss.
The La Salle duo of Escandor and David each made four triples to score the game-high 14 and 12 markers, respectively.
Despite the loss, UP head coach Goldwin Monteverde remains motivated that his team will give their all in the upcoming do-or-die Game 3.
“Hindi namin bibigyan ng reasons kung ano’ng turnout ng game today. But we’re gonna look inside us, kung ano ang dapat naming ginawa. So ‘yun lang, we learn from it,” he said in the post-game press conference.
State U will attempt to bounce back against the Green Archers in a winner-take-all on Wednesday, Dec. 6, at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.
QUARTER SCORES: 27-24, 38-44, 49-65, 60-82
