UNIVERSITY of the Philippines survived a fierce Far Eastern University charge in overtime, 80-76, to remain unbeaten in the UAAP Season 86 men’s basketball tournament at the Mall of Asia Arena on Wednesday.
Despite a late blunder in regulation, Malick Diouf posted his fourth straight double-double with 11 points and 20 rebounds.
See Magic beat Pelicans, spoil Zion Williamson’s return from long layoff
The Fighting Maroons kept its solo lead atop the team standings at 4-0 (win-loss) as the Tamaraws hit rock-bottom without a single victory at 0-4.
Tied at 68, Francis Lopez’s game-winner, which was released before the final buzzer, was ruled out because of Diouf’s late interfering follow-up tip.
On the flip side, FEU’s Jorick Bautista hit all six of his three-pointers including the game-tying shot in regulation and another clutch three in overtime but fell flat in clinching a first league win for the Morayta side.
"As Coach Gold (Monteverde) always says: ‘as the season progresses, every game for us is a chance to improve,” UP deputy coach Christian Luanzon said.
“I felt it was good for us as a team, even though we turned the ball a lot in this game, na it was one of those games where we were fortunate that FEU was only able to convert 13 (of our 21 turnovers),” he added.
For the Tamaraws, however, a 45-point combined output from Bautista and LJ Gonzales was laid to waste by squandering crucial breaks of the game in overtime.
Coming off its first four-game winning start since 1997, UP eyes a historic fifth straight win against also-ran UST as FEU is hungry for an elusive victory over Adamson at the Mall of Asia Arena on Saturday.
The scores:
UP (80) – Felicilda 17, Cansino 14, Diouf 11, Lopez 9, Alarcon 8, Torres 6, Torculas 6, Cagulangan 5, Alter 4, Pablo 0, Gonzales 0, Briones 0, Belmonte 0.
FEU (76) – Bautista 26, Gonzales 19, Torres 9, Ona 8, Sleat 7, Torres 4, Alforque 3, Faty 0, Bagunu 0, Buenaventura 0, Competente 0, Montemayor 0.
Quarterscores: 17-13, 35-38, 54-56, 68-68, 80-76.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
