Red Warriors bring UP Maroons back to earth

MANILA, Philippines - Charles Mammie took charge in the absence of Roi Sumang as University of the East sent University of the Philippines back to earth with a 68-48 rout and improved to 4-4 in the UAAP Season 77 men’s basketball tourney yesterday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Mammie muscled his way to 15 points, firing 11 in leading UE’s third-quarter pull away, and collared 14 rebounds and blocked four shots as the Red Warriors disposed of the Maroons, who failed to follow-up their well-publicized 77-64 win over Adamson a week ago to fall to 1-7.

UE coach Derrick Pumaren said Mammie responded to his challenge, issued after he and their other import Moustapha Arafat were completely shut down in their 91-93 overtime loss to Ateneo last week.

“I told them we’re struggling because we’re not getting anything from them. So far, Charles has stepped up to the challenge and he was able to prove his worth,” he said.

UE decided to sit out Sumang, who suffered a sprained ankle in their last outing. The ankle was still swollen on game day.

“He’s still not 100 percent and there’s no need to rush him. I want him 100 percent for our next game (against Ateneo on Wednesday),” Pumaren said.

Pumaren, however, rued the Warriors’ erratic ways.“I’m not happy with the win. We had 29 turnovers. Not to disrespect UP but we threw the ball away 29 times, and that’s not good for us,” said Pumaren, whose charges gave up 17 points off errors.

Dan Alberto complemented Mammie with 11 points while Mark Olayon added 10 markers and eight boards.

Mikee Reyes fired 19, spiked by four triples, to banner UP, which welcomed back coach Rey Madrid after his two-game suspension.

Santo Tomas survived another tough outing against Adamson, winning by the skin of its teeth, 61-59, to break a three-game slump.

Louie Vigil drained a jumper to give the Tigers a 60-59 lead with 1:51 left then Aljon Mariano grabbed three crucial offensive rebounds and made a split free throw with 7.3 seconds to go to secure their fourth victory in eight games.

“Iyung Adamson, they played very good defense. Yung zone nila nag-click sa amin, hindi kami maka-convert ng outside shots, hindi kami makapag-penetrate. Good thing, nung huli, si Aljon naka-offensive rebounds (Adamson played a very good defense, we couldn’t shoot outside and penetrate against their zone. Good thing, Aljon had big offensive rebounds in the end),” said UST coach Bong dela Cruz, whose wards also struggled in a hairy 50-49 squeaker over the winless Falcons (0-8) in the first round.

The Tigers shot a measly 5-of-28 (17.86 percent) from the three-point area and 23-of-70 overall (32.86 percent). They missed their last four shots but hauled down the offensive board each time, with Mariano accounting for three of those.

“Medyo hindi kami maka-shoot outside so kung saan na lang ako makatulong para manalo (Since we couldn’t make our outside shots, I wanted to contribute however I can to help the team win),” said Mariano who had 12 caroms, half off the offensive glass, to go with seven points.