UNIVERSITY of the Philippines served notice of its determination to reclaim the UAAP men's basketball title by torching Adamson, 68-51, in its season debut at the Mall of Asia Arena on Sunday.
Picking up from where he left off, reigning UAAP MVP Malick Diouf led from the front with 20 points and 17 rebounds as the Maroons opened leads as big as 20 points and lived up to all pre-season expectations.
READ: Coach Denok's first-day jitters eased by presence of Arwind, FEU greats
UP unleashed the might of its prized rookie class with seven debutants led by Francis Lopez seeing action on top of captain CJ Cansino's return from knee injury.
“I felt we were a little bit slow and we’re very impatient offensively. But good thing, the team adjusted to what was happening and played smarter,” said UP coach Goldwin Monteverde.
“I guess for a start, we can always still improve and work on what needs to be worked on.”
Cansino, who scored 19 points on five treys, was grateful for his teammates' trust in his first game back from a long layoff.
“Siguro ‘yung sa tiwala ng teammates ko, kapag tumitira ako kahit sablay, nandun sila palagi para sabihin na, ‘Tira lang, papasok din ‘yan,” Cansino said.
“‘Yun ‘yung nagbigay sa ’kin ng confidence na kahit ‘yung ibang (tira) ‘di pumapasok, gagawin ko pa rin role ko.”
Rookie Matthew Montebon’s 13 points paced the Falcons, whose biggest star, Jerom Lastimosa, showed up in uniform but didn't play.
The scores:
UP (68) - Diouf 20, Cansino 19, Alarcon 10, Cagulangan 5, Lopez 5, Gonzales 3, Felicilda 2, Torculas 2, Alter 2, Torres 0, Pablo 0, Belmonte 0, Abadiano 0, Briones 0, Andres 0.
AdU (51) - Montebon 13, Hanapi 11, Sabandal 8, Manzano 8, Colonia 4, Magbuhos 3, Ojarikre 2, Barasi 2, Barcelona 0, Ramos 0, Erolon 0, Calisay 0, Yerro 0, Anabo 0, Canete 0.
Quarterscores: 16-11; 31-25; 48-35; 68-51.
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