UNIVERSITY of the Philippines secured at least a playoff for a Top Two spot after drubbing University of Santo Tomas, 86-61, in the UAAP Season 86 men's basketball tournament at the Mall of Asia Arena on Wednesday.
Chicco Briones had himself a breakout game with a team-high 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting as the Maroons improved to a league-best 11-2 (win-loss) while riding the crest of a three-game win streak.
UP will end the prelims with a clash against National University on Sunday.
A second stringer himself, Briones emerged as the centerpiece of a staggering 73-point bench output out of UP’s 86 total markers.
And despite yielding 38 free throw attempts to UST compared to just 11 for UP, the Maroons used their collective shooting firepower (44.2%) to extinguish any hope of a Tigers comeback.
Should La Salle lose to FEU later in the day, UP and NU will finish as the Top Two teams with the twice-to-beat bonuses in the Final Four.
Conversely, a La Salle win piles up major Final Four implications on UP and NU’s prelims finale battle in which a three-way tie at 11-3 is still on the table if Adamson loses to NU.
The scores:
UP (86) – Briones 14, Gonzales 10, Cansino 9, Belmonte 9, Lopez 8, Alter 7, Diouf 6, Felicilda 6, Fortea 6, Alarcon 4, Torres 4, Abadiano 2, Torculas 1, Cagulangan 0, Pablo 0.
UST (61) – Cabañero 14, Manaytay 14, Pangilinan 13, Duremdes 5, Laure 5, Calum 4, Llemit 3, Manalang 2, Moore 1, Crisostomo 0, Lazarte 0, Magdangal 0, Esmena 0.
Quarterscores: 24-18, 44-32, 69-47, 86-61.
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