MANILA – Paul Desiderio scored the game-winner as the University of the Philippines Maroons cruised to an 89-87 overtime win over Adamson Falcons in the UAAP Season 81 men’s basketball semifinal round on Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
With the scores tied 87-all after two free throws by the Falcons’ Jerom Lastimosa, Desiderio drained a jumper over the defense of Sean Manganti with six seconds left for the Maroons to surge to the finals for the first time since 1986.
Desiderio finished the match with double-double 16 points and 11 rebounds for the Maroons, which will battle defending champions Ateneo Blue Eagles in the best-of-three final round starting Saturday.
Juan Gomez de Llano led the way with career-high 30 points, including four triples, while Bright Akhuetie chipped in double-double 13 points and 17 rebounds for the Maroons.
The Maroons were dominant in the first half behind the hot outside shooting of de Llano and inside hits from Akhuetie to surge to as high as 16 points at 60-44 in the third period.
After the Falcons countered with a huge run from Lastimosa and Jerrick Ahanmisi to take a 69-64 lead, the Maroons quickly turned things around for a 78-75 edge, but Adamson forced overtime on a triple by Lastimosa.
In the extension period, the Falcons surged to an 84-78 lead on shots from Simon Camacho and Lastimosa but the Maroons inched into the lead for an 84-all score on a basket by Akhuetie.
The Falcons were still up 85-84 when Desiderio gave Maroons an 87-85 lead on a 3-pointer. After which the Falcons tied the match for the last time on two free throws by Lastimosa before Desiderio had another 2-pointer for the marginal basket.
Ahanmisi finished the match with 20 points while Lastimosa and Papi Sarr added 17 and 16 points, respectively, for the Falcons, which failed to reach the finals despite having a twice-to-beat incentive in the Final Four./PN
