Thriving on thrillers Maroons edge Bulldogs, seize second

MANILA, Philippines — University of the Philippines notched its second straight win to gain solo second while Adamson and FEU defeated separate foes to move up in the standings of the 82nd UAAP men’s basketball tournament at the Mall of Asia Arena yesterday.

Slowly but surely finding their chemistry after a massive off-season buildup, the Maroons hurdled yet another challenge, scoring a narrow 80-79 win over NU to improve at 3-1 behind unbeaten Ateneo (4-0). 

Adamson, coming off a bitter loss to UP last week, displayed its own never-say-die spirit against Santo Tomas to run away with a 78-71 win while FEU added to the piling woes of La Salle, 66-55.

Fresh from a 20-point debut against Adamson, prized recruit Kobe Paras sizzled with 25 points, six rebounds and two assists for the Maroons, who registered their second straight one-point victory.

Reigning MVP Bright Akhuetie logged in 19 markers and 12 boards while Javi Gomez de Liano nailed five triples to finish with 17 in solid backup to Paras. 

“We need to learn how to close out games as a team. That’s a process,” said UP coach Bo Perasol as his wards took care of business anew following their classic 83-82 overtime win over the Falcons.

With Paras, Akhuetie and De Liano at the helm, UP zoomed into an early 14-point lead and held on after NU’s Dave Ildefonso drilled a booming trey to cut the deficit to 79-80. 

David Murrel missed his charities for UP on the next possession, and the Bulldogs missed the chance to pull it off when John Lloyd Clemente missed at the buzzer.

Dave Ildefonso put up 25 makers to pace NU, which fell to 0-4. The Bulldogs lost to Adamson and La Salle by one point, and to Santo Tomas in overtime.

Adamson completed a major turnaround in the last three minutes where it unloaded a searing 16-0 windup anchored on a full-court press.

“We needed that win as you all know what happened to us in our last game. We needed this win to boost our confidence,” said Adamson coach Franz Pumaren after his Falcons joined the Tigers at 3-2.

The Tigers led by as many as 13 points in the fourth quarter. 

In the last game, Pat Tchuente booked 19 points, 11 rebounds and two blocks as FEU bounced back from a 46-63 loss to Ateneo to improve to 2-2 for solo fifth place midway through the first round.

“I’m just proud of the way we played today coming off that loss to Ateneo. It just shows the competition this season. It’s so balanced. Every team is capable of winning at any given time. I’m happy on how we responded,” said FEU coach Olsen Racela.

The scores:

First Game 

UP 80 – Paras 25, Akhuetie 19, Ja. Gomez de Liano 17, Tungcab 6, Manzo 4, Rivero 4, Longa 3, Murrell 2, Ju. Gomez de Liano 0, Gozum 0, Jaboneta 0, Prado 0, Spencer 0.

NU 79 – D. Ildefonso 25, Gaye 13, S. Ildefonso 13, Gallego 9, Joson 8, Minerva 7, Clemente 2, Mosqueda 2, Diputado 0, Galinato 0, Malonzo 0, Oczon 0, Tibayan 0, Yu 0.

Quarterscores: 18-23, 44-36, 67-59, 80-79

Second Game

ADAMSON 78 – Ahanmisi 24, Chauca 18, Douanga 9, Fermin 7, Lastimosa 6, Mojica 5, Magbuhos 4, Camacho 3, Manlapaz 2, Bernardo 0, Flowers 0, Yerro 0, Zaldivar 0

UST 71 – Chabi Yo 17, Cansino 10, Concepcion 10, Nonoy 10, Abando 9, Subido 6, Huang 4, Paraiso 3, Pangilinan 2, Ando 0, Caunan 0, Cuajao 0

Quarterscores: 19-15, 33-38, 48-58, 78-71

Third Game

FEU 66 – Tchuente 19, Comboy 11, Bienes 9, Eboña 8, Alforque 7, Gonzales 5, Tuffin 4, Torres 3, Cani 0, Nunag 0, Stockton 0.D

La Salle 55 – Malonzo 20, Caracut 10, Baltazar 6, Serrano 6, Melecio 5, Bates 2, Lojera 2, Meeker 2, Pado 2, Manuel 0.

Quarterscores: 19-14, 36-24, 49-43, 66-55