MANILA – University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons pulled away late in overtime to defeat Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles, 76-71, in the UAAP Season 85 men’s basketball on Sunday night at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
From a 66-all score in the extension period, the Fighting Maroons took the lead at 68-66 on a fastbreak dunk by Maodo Malick Diouf before widening it to 71-66 on a three-point play by Carl Tamayo.
Blue Eagles’ Rence Padrigao cut the deficit to 68-71 with two free throws but the Fighting Maroons widened it anew to 73-68 with under a minute left on split free throws by Diouf and Terrence Fortea.
Ateneo made its last push at 71-73 on a three-pointer by Padrigao but the Fighting Maroons increased the lead anew to 74-71 on a split freebie by Tamayo with 18 seconds left.
The Blue Eagles had another opportunity to send the match into overtime but rookie Kai Ballungay misfired his three-point attempt. The Fighting Maroons sealed the win with two free throws.
Tamayo top-scored with 20 points, with 16 coming in the second half, to go with 13 rebounds and three assists as the Fighting Maroons bounced back from their first loss to improve to 4-1.
James Spencer had his best game this season with 14 points and six rebounds, while Diouf and Zavier Lucero had 12 and 10, respectively, while Joel Cagulangan made his season debut with seven points, seven rebounds, five assists, and four steals.
“I believe that we played better as a team. We moved the ball well, we really tried to work on especially ‘yung offense namin,” said UP coach Goldwin Monteverde. “The whole team did their best to execute on both ends.”
This was the first meeting between the two teams since the UAAP Season 84 championship, which was won by the Fighting Maroons on a game-winning three-pointer by Cagulangan.
Dave Ildefonso ended with double-double 22 points and 12 rebounds, Padrigao chimed in 15 points, four rebounds, and four assists, while Angelo Kouame had 10 points as the Blue Eagles dropped to 3-2.
BOX SCORE:
UP 76 — Tamayo 20, Spencer 14, Diouf 12, Lucero 10, Cagulangan 7, Abadiano 6, Galinato 4, Fortea 3, Gonzales 0, Alarcon 0, Calimag 0.
ATENEO 71 — Ildefonso 22, Padrigao 15, Kouame 10, Andrade 9, Ballungay 8, Koon 5, Chiu 2, Lazaro 0, Gomez 0, Garcia 0, Quitevis 0.
Quarterscores: 18-14, 33-38, 53-54, 64-64, 76-71./PN
