Maroons near semis; Archers boost own bid

MANILA, Philippines — The UP Maroons firmed up their hold of second place while the La Salle Green Archers closed their gap behind the Santo Tomas Tigers with their stirring triumphs in the 82nd UAAP men’s basketball tournament at the Smart Araneta Coliseum yesterday. 

Jun Manzo came up clutch with three insurance freebies as the Maroons avoided full meltdown, salvaging an 80-77 win over the NU Bulldogs.

Later on, UP (8-4) went a full game ahead of closest pursuers as La Salle survived Rhenz Abando’s late three-point barrage to escape with a heart-stopping 80-79 victory over erstwhile solo third-placer UST.

Jamie Malonzo starred with 23 points spiked by four triples, seven rebounds, two assists and three steals while veterans Aljun Melecio and Justine Baltazar added 18 and 14 markers, respectively, for the Green Archers who denied the Tigers (7-6) and the Maroons (8-4) outright entries to the Final Four.

With the loss, the Tigers instead dropped to joint third with the FEU Tams, just half-game ahead of La Salle (6-6).

The Tams boosted their stock with a 63-60 decision over the Adamson Falcons.

Kobe Paras (19) and Juan Gomez de Liano (11) complemented Manzo in offense while reigning MVP Bright Akhuetie tallied a 16-12 double-double to anchor UP’s last stand. 

“We are happy for this win but we need to be better when we go deeper into the playoffs,” said UP coach Bo Perasol.