UP Fighting Maroons dedicate first win to grieving teammates

MANILA, Philippines -- The UP Fighting Maroons survived a furious endgame rally by the College of Saint Benilde Blazers to fashion out a 76-69 win in the Filoil Flying V Hanes Premier Cup matches Monday at the San Juan Arena.

 

The Fighting Maroons came out scorching hot and led by as much as 21 points after a basket by JR Gallanza right at the end of the first half buzzer, 41-20, behind the shooting of JR Gallarza and Dave Moralde. UP shot 43% from the field with 16 points coming off turnovers and fastbreaks.

 

The Blazers on the other hand shot a paltry 16% from the field (6-36) while turning over the ball 14 times. Not even the return of chief gunner Mark Romero could arrest CSB’s poor play.

 

However, in the third period, the Blazers came alive when they hit six three-pointers highlighted by back-to-back triples by point guard Luis Sinco to cut the lead to 56-48.

 

The law of averages caught up with UP as they began to miss from the field and commit turnovers in the fourth period. With CSB knocking at the door, 67-61 with 1:58 left in the match, the Blazers main scorer, Mark Romero, just back in the line-up after a trip to the United States, committed two consecutive turnovers that UP converted into five points for a 72-61 lead. 

 

But the Blazers pressed UP and went on an 8-0 run to make a game of it 72-69 with 23 seconds remaining but Maroons rookie Diego Dario and Moralde sealed the deal for them with four free throws for their first win of the summer tournament.

 

UP evened up their record to 1-1 while CSB fell to 0-3.

 

“It’s a process and it’s good to see it finally develop especially with our team defense,” said UP head coach Rey Madrid. “Furthermore, it was nice to see the boys play with some composure and to have that big buffer.”

 

While elated with the win, Madrid noted that his team was outrebounded, 64-38. “Our rebounding was horrendous. It’s a challenge for us.”

 

JR Gallarza who finished with 14 points (Moralde topscored  with 18 markers) offered the Maroons victory to teammates Diego Dario and Mark Juruena who both whose fathers passed away in the last few days. 

 

Benilde was led by Jonathan Grey who scored 17 points. 

 

The Scores: 

 

UP 76 – Moralde 18, Gallarza 14, Reyes 14, Dario 13, Juruena 10, Gingerich 3, Harris 2, Lao 2, Romero 0, Prado 0.

 

CSB 69 – Grey 18, Nayve 14, Bartolo 8, Romero 7, Sinco 6, Mercado 5, Argamino 4, Ongteco 3, Melocoton 3, Johnson 2, Saavedra 0, Pajrillaga 0, Altamirano 0, Flores 0.