Akhuetie’s dunk secures UP’s win over St. Clare in BBI hoops

MANILA, Philippines – Bright Akhuetie’s emphatic dunk with seven seconds left in the game closed out the University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons’ 67-63 win over the St. Clare College Saints in the Breakdown Basketball Invitationals last Sunday at the Moro Lorenzo Sports Center in Quezon City.

With the Fighting Maroons leading the Saints 65-61 with 38 seconds to play, the latter squad’s Jason Fontanilla blocked UP’s Jun Manzo. However, Juan Gomez De Liaño was able to get the loose ball and he fed Akhuetie for a dunk that pretty much ended the game with only seven seconds left. SCC’s African player Mohamed Pare, who had led the late game fightback for the Saints, scored on a harmless lay-up to end the scoring.

Despite the win, the Fighting Maroons struggled against the NAASCU kings, who have lost quite a few players to graduation including the talented big man, Aris Dionisio.

UP got off to a good start in the first period as they led 22-11 after a jumper by Jarrell Lim. The Saints responded with a 13-0 run in a four-minute and 20-second span that saw them take the lead at 24-22.

The Fighting Maroons’ JD Tungcab scored the next four points and added a block on the defensive end to help his team wrest the lead once more; this time for good as UP held off repeated rallies by St. Clare.

The Saints actually played better defensively as they had more steals, 10-7; forced more turnovers, 20-12, which they translated into a huge 25-10 advantage un turnover points; 8-0 in fastbreak points; 10-8 in second chance points, and lastly, 35-14 advantage in bench points. UP just shot at a higher percentage, hitting 45 percent of their field goals while making more free throws. They also won the crucial battle inside the paint scoring 36-30 points versus St. Clare’s output.

Akhuetie led UP with 13 points and 12 rebounds while Jun Manzo and Juan Gomez De Liaño added 12 and 11 points, respectively.

Rojay Santos led St. Clare with 16 points while Mohamed Pare tallied 13 points and nine rebounds.

The win evened UP’s record to 1-1 in the Breakdown Basketball Invitationals while SCC dropped to 0-2. Adamson is pacing the competition with a 2-0 record while NU sports a 2-1 slate. Ateneo is in fifth spot with a 0-1 record.

Over at the distaff side, the Far Eastern University Lady Tamaraws won the Battle of Recto against rival University of the East, 50-40.

Both teams traded runs and leads for the first 14 minutes of the match. However, after Valerie Mamaril drilled a 3-pointer to give FEU a 19-17 lead at the 6:21 mark of the second period, the Lady Tamaraws never allowed UE to come close again.

Three Lady Tamaraws scored nine points each to topscore for the match — Daphne Payadon, MeAnn Bastatas and Elaisa Adriano. Similarly, three UE Lady Red Warriors scored eight points each to pace their side in Christine Cortizano, Joyce Francisco, and Anna Requiron.

FEU’s win tied them with idle De La Salle University for a 3-0 record in the six-team BBI Women’s 25-Under caging at the Moro Lorenzo Sports Center in Quezon City.