UNIVERSITY of the Philippines forward Francis Lopez intercepted a telegraphed pass by University of Santo Tomas guard Mark Llemit for Malian teammate Mo Tounkara.

Seeing a clear path ahead, the cat-quick and high-flying Lopez turned the Smart Araneta Coliseum’s hardwood into a runway and soared for a reverse slam dunk that roused the Katipunan-based five’s crowd from their seats.

Boosted by Lopez’s highlight reel and a second-half surge, the Fighting Maroons humbled the Growling Tigers yesterday 80-71 for their sixth straight win in the 87th UAAP basketball tournament.

Lopez’s slam gave UP a 48-42 lead with 8:35 to go in the third quarter and the Maroons held on until the final buzzer, thanks mainly to the likes of Lopez, Harold Alarcon, Terrence Fortea, and Gerry Abadiano.

UP assistant coach Christian Luanzon, who spoke in lieu of coach Goldwin Monteverde, said their wards buckled down to work in the final two cantos after trailing 16-25 early on, stressing it was the key to the win.

“Much better (second half), definitely. After allowing 23 points in the first quarter alone and then limiting them to 28 (points) in the second half,” Luanzon said. “Obviously, mas maganda iyong second half namin in terms of effort, in terms of adjustment but it’s really the players. They responded to the things that coach Gold told them to do especially during half-time.

“But you know, this is the tough UST team. Obviously, a much better team compared to the last season just like any other team in the UAAP. You can always expect iyong A-game nila so kudos to them and just fortunate that in the end we were able to hold them down, especially in the fourth quarter,” he added.

Alarcon uncorked 16 points for the Maroons, while Lopez chimed in 15 markers, six rebounds, two assists, two steals, and two blocks.

Fortea added 11 points while Abadiano had 10 as UP did an encore to a 69-57 win over Adamson University last Saturday and remained unscathed with a 6-0 mark heading into a finals rematch with defending champion La Salle on Sunday, Oct. 6, at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.

UP missed the services of top playmaker JD Cagulangan, who was under the weather.

UST, coming off a 67-88 blowout loss to the Green Archers four days ago, dropped to 3-3 in a tie with the Soaring Falcons for fourth.

 Tounkara carried the fight for the Tigers with 21 points and five caroms. He, however, hurt his left foot early in the fourth after stepping on Fortea’s foot.

Nic Cabañero and Forthsky Padrigao also combined for 29 for UST.