UNIVERSITY of the Philippines survived its biggest test to date, turning back La Salle, 67-64, on Wednesday night to stay unbeaten in the UAAP Season 86 men’s basketball tournament at the Mall of Asia Arena.
The Fighting Maroons overcame an early deficit then held tough against a Green Archers side that put up a whale of a fight in the absence of starting guard Evan Nelle to win their sixth straight game of the season.
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Reigning MVP Malick Diouf stood at the forefront of yet another brave UP comeback, scoring 10 points on 50 percent shooting to go with 18 rebounds and two blocks as the Maroons dealt La Salle its third loss in six games.
“We started flat on both ends of the first half, and ang difference lang sa’kin ng first and second half is ‘yung defense namin which was much better in the second half,” UP coach Goldwin Monteverde said.
“We were really working for the loose balls na na-rerecover namin so it’s all about wanting it more for us.”
With La Salle down three in the final seconds, Joaqui Manuel’s inbound to set up a game-tying play was intercepted by UP skipper CJ Cansino to avert the threat.
And with a team-high 13 points, Gerry Abadiano’s game-long heroics iced State U’s come-from-behind victory, while Michael Phillips’ 15-14 double-double was laid to waste in the endgame.
La Salle looks to go over .500 to finish off the first round against UE, 4 p.m. at the UST Quadricentennial Pavilion.
The scores:
UP (67) – Abadiano 13, Alarcon 10, Diouf 10, Lopez 7, Cansino 7, Torres 7, Belmonte 7, Cagulangan 6, Felicilda 0, Alter 0, Torculas 0, Pablo 0, Gonzales 0.
DLSU (64) – M. Phillips 15, Quiambao 14, David 7, Manuel 7, Nwankwo 6, Nonoy 5, Austria 5, Abadam 2, Macalalag 2, Policarpio 1, B. Phillips 0, Escandor 0, Gollena 0.
Quarterscores: 21-28, 38-47, 59-50, 67-64.
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