UNIVERSITY of the Philippines took control in the second quarter and never looked back, dumping Far Eastern University in wire-to-wire fashion, 69-58, in the UAAP Season 87 Collegiate Men’s Basketball Tournament at the SM Mall of Asia Arena, Sunday.
The Fighting Maroons stretched their unbeaten streak to four games for the solo lead over their rivals De La Salle Green Archers, who are playing the University of the East Red Warriors as of publishing time.
All wins of UP have been by double digits, beating National University by 27, Ateneo de Manila University by 16, and UE by 10 for an average winning margin of 16.0 points.
“One thing that Coach Gold always reminds the players is yung consistency in a game that should apply to fourth quarters. In many ways this was similar in our game against UE,” said Fighting Maroons assistant coach Christian Luanzon as UP ended sluggishly despite the win.
Holding a slender 24-19 lead in the second period, UP unleashed a strong 15-3 finisher with the likes of Gerry Abadiano, Janjan Felicilda, Francis Lopez, and Quentin Millora-Brown all contributing to erect a 39-22 advantage at halftime.
The Fighting Maroons led by as much as 25, 69-44, after back-to-back hits by Denzil Walker and Reyland Torres with four minutes to go in the game but they did not score from there on as Adam Nakai led a 14-0 finish for the Tamaraws.
Lopez led the balanced offense of UP with 13 points and four rebounds while one-and-done Millora-Brown had his best game so far with 11 points and 13 rebounds.
“We’ve just been trying to get better every day. All of us know we have more to reach for. It’s still early, this is only the fourth game and we have a lot more to achieve this season,” said the 6-foot-9 power forward, who graduated from The Citadel in the US.
Felicilda had nine points and three assists, while JD Caguulangan got seven points, five assists, and four rebounds.
UP will go for five in a row on Saturday when it matches up with Adamson University also at the same bayside Pasay arena.
Nakai finished with 12 points, 10 in the final minutes, as the Tamaraws continued to struggle, sliding down to 0-4, the last remaining winless team in the field.
Jorick Bautista added 11 points on 4-of-10 shooting from the field while Veejay Pre chipped in 10 points on a 5-of-16 clip.
FEU’s pursuit for its first win continues on Wednesday against La Salle at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
The Scores:
UP 69 – Lopez 13, Millora-Brown 11, Felicilda 9, Cagulangan 7, Alarcon 6, Bayla 6, Torres 4, Alter 4, Abadiano 3, Briones 2, Walker 2, Udodo 2, Fortea 0, Belmonte 0, Torculas 0, Stevens 0.
FEU 58 – Nakai 12, Bautista 11, Pre 10, Montemayor 9, Konateh 8, Alforque 6, Pasaol 2, Daa 0, Ona 0, Bagunu 0.
Quarterscores: 19-15, 39-22, 55-37, 69-58
