UNIVERSITY of the Philippines extended its winning run against Far Eastern University yesterday but only by the skin of its teeth.
Proving steadier down the stretch, the Fighting Maroons nipped the slumping Tamaraws 73-70 for their eighth straight victory and solidified their hold of solo second in the 84th UAAP basketball tournament at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.
With the seesaw game knotted at 70-all, prized Fil-Am recruit Zavier Lucero boomed in a clutch jumper that gave UP a 72-70 cushion with 1:26 to go in the fourth quarter.
But the Maroons’ Maodo Malick Diouf, Carl Tamayo, and Harold Alarcon could only sink one of their six free throws later, giving the Tamaraws a lifeline.
RJ Abarrientos, however, missed both of his three-point tries, sealing UP’s triumph that came on the heels of an 84-76 win over National University last week.
The Maroons hiked their record to 8-1 and handed FEU its third straight loss, counting a 63-64 defeat to Adamson University eight days ago for a 3-6 slate.
Ricci Rivero led UP with a game-high 19 points, on top of five rebounds and two assists, while Tamayo chipped in 14 markers, six boards, and three blocks. CJ Cansino also had 12 points for the Maroons, who also beat the Tams 83-76 when they first met last April 9.
In the other game, La Salle dismantled University of Santo Tomas 112-83 to get back on track.
Schonny Winston waxed hot and wound up with 33 points on 14-of-19 shooting, to go with four rebounds for the Green Archers, while Justine Baltazar backed him up with 17 markers, seven boards, and seven assists.
Evan Nelle, Michael Phillips, and Kurt Lojera also added 16, 15, and 10 points, respectively as La Salle redeemed itself from a 68-75 loss to archrival and defending three-time champion Ateneo last April 12 and rose to 6-3 for solo third.
The Growling Tigers failed to score a fitting follow-up to their 72-61 win over the University of the East Red Warriors eight days ago and slid to 3-6 in a tie with the Tams.
UP coach Goldwin Monteverde said his wards tightened the screws in the second half that enabled them to hold off FEU.
“On the first part hindi namin makuha masyado iyong rhythm ng game namin, but iyong difference especially iyong defense namin noong third quarter doon nag-pick up,” Monteverde said.
“Doon namin nakuha iyong confidence then tuloy-tuloy na hanggang dulo,” he added.
The Maroons fell 34-37 at the half but grabbed a 57-54 lead heading into the payoff period.
Emman Ojuola paced the Tams with 16 points and 16 rebounds, while Abarrientos and L-Jay Gonzales combined for 26.
“It was a total team effort for us today. We were able to execute,” Archers tactician Derrick Pumaren said.
“Deschon really shot well today. The only guy who was able to stop him was me because I took him out.”
Paul Manalang led UST with 14 points, while Bryan Santos returned from a one-game suspension with 13 points and seven rebounds. Sherwin Concepcion also contributed 12.
La Salle’s Joaqui Manuel served a one-game suspension in match after he was slapped with an unsportsmanlike foul criteria 2 he committed the last time out against the Blue Eagles.
