By: Anton Guarina
University of the Philippines cruised to its fifth consecutive win in the 2022 Filoil EcoOil Preseason Cup’s Group A, romping Emilio Aguinaldo College with an 83-57 victory, Friday in San Juan City.
Leading 28-25 with 4:43 left in the second period, the Fighting Maroons extended this advantage to 40-30 with 26 seconds remaining in the game off a 12-5 run courtesy of baskets from Malick Diouf, Carl Tamayo, Zavier Lucero, and Harold Alarcon
The lead grew to its biggest at 26, 83-57 off a dunk made by Aldous Torculas at the end of the fourth quarter.
“Siguro, right now medyo hindi pa ito ‘yung gusto namin na peak nung team, and si James (Spencer) wala pa, so there’s one more player na lacking,” said Fighting Maroons head coach Goldwin Monteverde.
“Right now, kumbaga, we’ve really won five games. Pero ‘yung isip namin is to prepare for the coming S 85, so importante pa rin even we won more games kailangan makita pa rin namin those areas na dapat namin bigyan ng pansin talaga,” he added.
Lucero starred for UP with 22 points, four rebounds, and two steals. Henri Galinato also contributed to the scoring spree with 12 markers and four boards, while Tamayo registered 11.
Meanwhile, Nathaniel Cosejo was the lone double digit scorer for Emilio Aguinaldo College who paced the generals with 11 points, two rebounds, and three assists.
UP improves to 5-0 while EAC, 2-2, are tied with College of Saint Benilde.
The Fighting Maroons (5-0) will look to get their sixth winning streak against National University on Sunday at 1:00 PM. On the other hand, the Generals (2-2) will face the CSB Blazers (2-2) on August 9, Tuesday at the Filoil Centre in San Juan City.
The Scores:
UP (83) –– Lucero 22, Galinato 12, Tamayo 11, Fortea 9, Alarcon 8, Diouf 8, Cagulangan 6, Torculas 4, Abadiano 2, Catapusan 1, Ramos 0.
EAC (57) — Cosejo 11, Luciano 8, Angeles 7, Vista 7, Cosa 6, Bajon 6, Dominguez 6, Umpad 4, Cabujat 2, Tolentino 0.
Quarterscores: 22-15, 40-30, 61-43, 83-57.
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The entire 2022 Filoil Ecooil Preseason Cup will stream LIVE on Smart Sports Facebook page
