The University of the Philippines (UP) Fighting Maroons claim their fourth straight victories of the UAAP Season 86 men’s and women’s basketball tournaments after back-to-back feats against the Far Eastern University (FEU) Tamaraws on Wednesday, Oct. 11.
Both squads now hold the lone top spot of their respective leagues, following the loss of the National University (NU) Bulldogs to the Fighting Maroons on Oct. 7 and the UST Growling Tigresses’ stumble against the NU Lady Bulldogs yesterday.
Overcoming overtime
The UP Men’s Basketball Team (UP MBT) remains unblemished as they escape the gutsy FEU Tamaraws, 80-76, in an overtime thriller at the Mall of Asia Arena.
This nail-biting win allowed the Fighting Maroons to match its best start in the UAAP in 1997, where they also secured a flawless 4-0 record in their first games.
The maroon shirts fired up a decent start in their match against FEU, ending the opening frame at 17-13, courtesy of a Janjan Felicilda bucket.
The Tamaraws, however, immediately charged back with 25 points in the second quarter, including a massive 16-2 run that left the Maroons trailing by 3 at the end of the first half, 35-38.
In the early seconds of the third quarter, CJ Cansino dipped a shot beyond the arc to tie the scores. From then, it was a tug-of-war between the teams with buckets being answered by each other, closing the quarter at 54-56 in favor of the Tamaraws.
FEU’s Jorick Bautista rode through the momentum with complementing efforts by LJ Gonzales in the fourth quarter to retake the lead, 58-61, putting UP under pressure.
Bautista’s trey at the last 30 seconds of the final salvo pushed the game to 68 apiece. With only 1.7 seconds remaining on the clock, FEU’s backcourt violation gave UP one more chance for a quick Harold Alarcon-to-Lopez jumper that made its way to the basket.
The celebration, however, was cut short as UP’s Malick Diouf was called for an offensive basket interference which voided Lopez’s potential game-winner, sending the ballgame to an overtime.
From a 73-all deadlock in the deciding frame, Diouf dipped 4 straight points to keep the Tamaraws at bay.
Despite the efforts of the green-and-gold to cut the deficit by just one, State U was able to seal the win thanks to Felicilda’s layup.
Reigning MVP Diouf delivered his fourth consecutive double-double performance, contributing 11 points and 20 rebounds, while the 5-foot-7 Felicilda tallied 13 of his 17 markers in the second half, and grabbed four boards in the State U victory.
“As Coach Gold [Monteverde] always says, as the season progresses, every game is a chance for us to improve. Even though we had 21 turnovers, it was just one of those games where we were fortunate that FEU was only able to convert 13 of them,” said UP MBT Assistant Coach Christian Luanzon.
Locked and loaded
Meanwhile, the UP Women’s Basketball Team (UP WBT) also emerged as the lone top team in their campaign as they ward off the FEU Lady Tamaraws, 64-61, at the Adamson University Gym.
The Lady Maroons were locked in to counter the green shirts’ bold deployments, capping off the first frame with a 7-point lead, 21-14.
In the second quarter, however, State U seemed to have run out of steam as the Lady Tamaraws pulled off multiple runs to trim the deficit to just a point, trailing at a close 34-35 to start the second half.
Fortunately, UP’s adjustments from both ends of the court allowed them to fend off FEU’s attacks while dominating the paint with a total of 39 inside points for the game.
With 6 minutes, 45 seconds on the clock in the final frame, State U chalked their biggest lead at 64-50 with continuous buckets coming from Louna Ozar, Favour Onoh and Kaye Pesquera who did not shy away from aggressive drives to keep the tides in the Maroons’ favor.
Still fueling the fire for FEU was Josee Kaputu, Shane Salvani and Jamerin Delos Santos who mounted an 11-0 run to cut down State U’s cushion to 3 with less than 2 minutes remaining.
Fortunately, the Maroons’ momentum went back to its winning rhythm after a failed Kaputu jumper. Despite a risky Christie Bariquit turnover with around 50 seconds left in the game, UP held its defense to keep their streak alive.
UP WBT Head Coach Paul Ramos acknowledged the “expected” impactful performance of Gilas hooper Ozar and reminded her to “enjoy the experience and continue to get better with her teammates.”
Ozar was able to pace the maroon shirts’ win with 15 points, five rebounds and two steals for her second UAAP game.
Complementing the Maroons’ refining offense was Bariquit with 11 points and seven rebounds and Pesquera with 10 markers and four boards.
Leading the Lady Tamaraws, meanwhile, were Congolese rookie Kaputu with a double-double performance of 19 points and 17 rebounds.
The UP Fighting Maroons will face the UST Growling Tigers on Saturday, Oct. 14, at the Mall of Asia Arena at 11 a.m. (women’s) and 4 p.m. (men’s) as they vie a 5-0 record and stay on top of the standings.
UP MBT QUARTER SCORES: 17-13, 35-38, 54-56, 68-68, 80-76
UP WBT QUARTER SCORES: 21-14, 35-34, 55-48, 64-61
