UNIVERSITY of the Philippines secured itself a top two seat in the UAAP Season 84 men's basketball tournament with an 81-68 triumph over winless University of the East Tuesday at Mall of Asia Arena.
UP vs UE recap
Zavier Lucero stamped his class for the Fighting Maroons with his 20 points, 14 rebounds, three assists, and three blocks to make it back-to-back wins for the Diliman side.
More importantly, this 10th win in 12 games assures UP a twice-to-beat advantage in the Final Four.
"Working pa rin kami as a team, how to get yung rhythm namin as a team, how to execute as a team," said coach Goldwin Monteverde. "Itong remaining games namin, although alam namin na nasa top two na kami, but we need to work pa rin and continue to build our momentum for the Final Four."
As expected, the Fighting Maroons imposed their will on the Red Warriors early on, using a 20-6 rampage to build the 28-12 lead.
That lead ballooned to 19, 51-32, but UE rallied back and get to within nine in the third frame.
But with UP holding a 63-54 lead with 7:21 remaining, Lucero triggered a 19-7 blast to bring the lead back to 20, 81-61, with 1:50 remaining in the game.
Ricci Rivero did his share with 17 points on 3-of-7 shooting from downtown, to go with four boards, two assists, two steals, CJ Cansino got eight points, six rebounds, and five assists, and Carl Tamayo got seven points, eight boards, and five dimes.
Malick Diouf also dominated the boards with 15 rebounds as the Fighting Maroons won the battle of the boards against the Red Warriors, 57 to 47.
Jojo Antiporda scored 15 points from his three triples, as Nikko Paranada got 13 points, nine rebounds, and three assists in the loss.
Clint Escamis also chimed in a near-triple-double effort of nine points, 11 boards, and eight dimes as the Red Warriors sunk to 0-12.
The Scores:
UP 81 -- Lucero 20, Rivero 17, Cansino 8, Tamayo 7, Eusebio 7, Diouf 6, Abadiano 6, Cagulangan 4, Fortea 4, Spencer 2, Calimag 0, Alarcon 0.
UE 68 -- Antiporda 15, N. Paranada 13, Escamis 9, K. Paranada 8, Beltran 7, Sawat 4, Pagsanjan 4, J. Cruz 3, Villanueva 3, Lorenzana 2, Abatayo 0, Tulabut 0, Guevarra 0, Pascual 0, P. Cruz 0.
Quarters: 18-8, 44-26, 59-44, 81-68.
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