UAAP Wednesday: La Salle hangs on; UP, FEU post huge wins

MANILA, Philippines — The University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons got two huge assists on their way to an 80-77 win over the National University Bulldogs.

The first was when NU’s hard luck reprised itself when Shaun Ildefonso missed a shot that could have forced overtime, and second was when the University of Santo Tomas lost to De La Salle University, 80-79.

Rhenz Abando was able to pick off a pass by Andrei Caracut and he pulled up for a three. Abando made the shot but he stepped on the line only giving him two points for the shot.

The two results placed UP at 8-4 with UST falling to 7-6.

UST has one game to play and it is against eliminated Adamson (not advancing to the final four for the first time under head coach Franz Pumaren). UP on the other hand has to play La Salle and Ateneo. Both teams will not want to lose to the Fighting Maroons. I am told that if UP losses its last two games and UST defeats Adamson, there will be a playoff for the second seed. And I don’t recall quotient being a tie-breaker in the UAAP.

It was a tough campaign for NU that is at 2-10. I figured they would finish in the bottom half of the standings. I just didn’t think they’d be losing a lot of games in the final minute of play.

Why did I think this way of them? Simply because it is a young team. Next season is when they start to make serious inroads. It also depends on all their off-season movements. 

The Far Eastern University Tamaraws are peaking at the right time. As La Salle hoped for a loss by the Tamaraws to improve their Final Four chances, FEU made it harder as they defeated Adamson, 63-60. If the Green Archers can pick up two wins in their finals two games (assuming FEU defeats Adamson), they will also figure in a playoff. Any one loss and it is moot and academic.

The final 1:36 of the game has to be looked at. FEU led 63-60 after Tamaraws guard LJ Gonzales split his free throws. Adamson had a chance when Simon Camacho stole the pass of Alec Stockton. His miss was huge. In fact, in the final 1;36, Adamson got off only two field goal attempts including the last gasp three by Jerom Lastimosa. FEU had no shots on goal. They turned the ball over twice and lucky for them, Adamson did not convert on either of them. 

That finish does not take away anything from FEU. They have really switched on this second round and will be a tough team for anyone to play against. And again, I like that Ken Tuffin and Wendell Comboy have really raised the level of their games this second round.

As for La Salle, that was a massive win. They still have that lifeline and a 4-0 record versus former coach Aldin Ayo. Aljun Melecio was his usual explosive self and it was good to see Brandon Bates contribute mightily to the win. Luckily too that Bates played his best game in his two-year old UAAP career because of the below par outings of Encho Serrano, Jordan Bartlett, Andrei Caracut, and Kurt Lojera. Another crucial factor to their win was Jamie Malonzo was not in foul trouble and stayed in the game. He is one of their steady contributors and needs to play to be effective.

The Wednesday, October 23, games saw Adamson knocked out. This weekend is where we will see who makes the final cast.