UP has already made school history — and is still very much in the running in the UAAP Season 82 Men’s Basketball Tournament.
With a gutsy 71-68 win against De La Salle University last Sunday, the Fighting Maroons clinched the second-seed and the twice-to-beat advantage alongside it.
Both are firsts for UP in the Final Four era.
Not only that, they also booted out the Green Archers, who will miss the post-season for the second straight year.
And there is no doubt that UP can thank Jun Manzo’s leadership and backcourt brilliance for much of that.
In their last two wins, Manzo averaged 12.5 points, 5.0 assists, and 4.5 rebounds, steering the ship as the Fighting Maroons sail towards history and proving himself worthy as the latest Chooks-to-Go Collegiate Press Corps UAAP Player of the Week.
Against La Salle, the 5-foot-9 court general scattered 11 points on top of eight assists and five rebounds.
It was far from his best scoring output, but his unselfishness was key in the Fighting Maroons’ triumph over the Green Archers, who were desperate for a win to stay alive.
In fact, it was his beautiful bounce pass that led to Kobe Paras’ go-ahead dunk in the last minute.
“Unang-una, nagpapasalamat kami sa Panginoong Diyos sa binigay niyang panalo,” said Manzo.
“Siguro, kaya kami nanalo ngayon is sa dulo, maganda ‘yung execution namin as a team.”
And that was just an encore for the graduating guard’s 14-point, four-rebound, two-assist performance in their 80-77 win over National University three days earlier.
Those back-to-back strong showings not only earned Manzo the weekly citation decided by print and online writers covering the beat, but head coach Bo Perasol’s praise as well.
“I just have to give honor to them for being warriors,” he said. “Bright [Akhuetie], Jun here, and everybody else who contributed should get credit for this.”
The 22-year-old playmaker eclipsed Ange Kouame of Ateneo, Rhenz Abando of UST, and Wendell Comboy of FEU for the award.
