KOREA once again got the better of the Philippines, even as State U's first appearance in the World University Basketball Series was full of fight.
Yu Hyeon-moon drilled a cold-blooded trey with 25.8 seconds left to lead Korea University in shooting down the Fighting Maroons, 75-71, on Saturday at Yoyogi National Stadium Second Gymnasium in Tokyo.
His long three over the outstretched arms of Francis Nnoruka doused the spirited maroon-and-green rally to make it a 70-66 game in favor of the Tigers, who finished second in last year's edition of the invitational tournament.
UP then fumbled its following chances, as Reyland Torres got whistled for the five-second inbound violation leading to Moon draining both of his charities that gave Korea U a 72-66 lead with 22.5 ticks left.
With the defeat, the Fighting Maroons have been relegated to the classification phase where they will play University of Sydney, which lost to Nippon Sport Science University, 65-64, earlier in the day.
Still, it was an admirable fight from the debuting Diliman side which recovered from a paltry 1-19 start and even tied the game at 65 in the final 1:33.
Terrence Fortea paced UP with 14 points, but momentarily left the game to start the payoff period after a left wrist scare.
Gani Stevens chimed in a double-double with 13 points, 12 rebounds, and two steals, Nnoruka nabbed 10 and 10, and Chicco Briones scored all of his 10 points in the fourth.
READ: Phillips makes sure La Salle passes first test in WUBS title defense
La Salle, the other representative of the Philippines, will continue to defend its WUBS title in the semifinals on Sunday.
Moon led the way for the Koreans with 23 points on 5-of-8 shooting from deep, as Lee Dong-jun had 15.
The Scores:
KOREA U 75 - Moon 23, Lee DJ 15, Yoo 13, Yang 7, Park 6, Yun 4, Kim 3, Seok 2, Shim 2, Lee GH 0.
UP 71 - Fortea 14, Stevens 13, Briones 10, Nnoruka 10, Torres 6, Alter 6, Felicilda 5, Remogat 3, Abadiano 2, Yniguez 2, Belmonte 0, Bayla 0.
Quarters: 23-13, 40-34, 60-48, 75-71.
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.
