AMA rips Ricci Rivero-less UP in BBI caging

MANILA, Philippines – The AMA Computer College Titans had to do a double take when the UP Fighting Maroons took the Moro Lorenzo Sports Center court in the sulit.ph Breakdown Basketball Invitationals. There was a Gomez De Liaño. There was a Gozum and a Jaboneta in uniform.

Joe Gomez De Liaño, the oldest of the Gomez De Liaño brothers, scored 22 points. Will Gozum, a rookie in this year’s UP UAAP squad, added eight points and nine rebounds. But that wasn’t enough especially since Ricci Rivero missed the match. 

The result was an 88-64 win by the Titans, who were never seriously threatened during the match.

AMA opened the match with a 13-0 run as UP’s guns were cold missing all six field goal attempts while turning the ball over twice. Will Gozum finally broke the ice for UP at the 5:37 mark with a lay-up that opened up an 11-0 retaliatory run by the Fighting Maroons.

AMA’s Michael Maloles and Jr. Bacalla stopped the bleeding with a jumper and a triple, respectively, to end the first quarter, 18-15.

Gomez De Liaño knocked down a jumper to bring UP within one, 18-17, at the start of the second frame. But that was the closest the Fighting Maroons would ever get they shot 6-16 from the field and 2-8 from the stripe while turning the ball over twice. AMA pounced on UP’s poor shooting to hike their lead to 42-32 going into the halftime break.

The Titans continued to pull away in the third quarter, outscoring the punchless UP team, 22-12, to take a 64-44 lead into the fourth and final quarter where AMA coasted to a win.

Although UP shot 43 percent from the field, AMA was better at 50 percent. They also hurt UP in points from turnovers, 24-10, and second chance points, 15-6. The Fighting Maroons were also atrocious from the free throw line hitting only 6-16. AMA was just as bad, knocking down 7-14 shots from the 15-foot line. 

Luke Parcero led AMA with 31 points and five rebounds while Chukwuemeka Ogbuka and Vince Bederi added 10 points each.

Gomez De Liaño was the sole UP player in double figures. 

AMA notched its first win for a 1-1 record while UP fell to 1-3 in the Men’s Under-25 Division of the sulit.ph Breakdown Basketball Invitationals.