Ricci Rivero provided the spark as University of the Philippines claimed its second win in the UAAP Season 84 Men’s Basketball Tournament, an 80-70 victory over National University, Thursday evening, at the closed-door SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
After three close quarters, the Fighting Maroons finally found some separation, 66-53, away from the Bulldogs thanks to 11 unanswered points ignited by Rivero, who scored five of them, at the 7:00 mark of the fourth quarter.
Five straight points from John Galinato, Reyland Torres, Germy Mahinay, though, cut the deficit to 61-68 with 5:15 left in the ballgame and kept UP honest. However, CJ Cansino’s three-point basket with 3:10 to go restored the Fighting Maroons’ cushion to double digits at 74-63.
“We had a slow start but naka-pick up naman kami during the course of the game but this is something that we have to look at,” commented UP mentor Goldwyn Monteverde. “Siyempre hindi naman kami dapat ma-satisfy since nasa third game pa lang kami.”
With 2:39 remaining Rivero and Janjan Felicilda figured in a commotion while the former was putting up a lay-up. Rivero was called on a technical foul while Felicilda was given an unsportsmanlike foul. John Galinatio and Rivero exchanged free throws to make the scoreline read 76-67.
The Fighting Maroons then sealed the game with a minute left thanks to Joel Cagulangan’s free throws and Carl Tamayo’s move in the paint.
“Of course, there’s a lot of things to improve on as we go along,” added Monteverde. “We have this chance to learn while winning the game. Every game we just have to improve.”
Rivero led all scorers with 19 points followed by Tamayo’s 13. Cagulangan had nine points, eight rebounds, and six assists. Xavier Lucero was able to seize 10 rebounds and score five points.
On the other hand, NU was led by Michael Malonzo with 11 points and Torres’ 10 points.
Both schools shall next play on Saturday at the SM MOA Arena. NU (1-2) takes on Far Eastern University at 10:00 AM while UP (2-1) plays University of the East afterward at 1:00 PM.
The Scores:
UP 80 – Rivero 19, Tamayo 13, Cagulangan 9, Fortea 8, Cansino 8, Spencer 6, Lucero 5, Diouf 4, Alarcon 4, Catapusan 2, Abadiano 2, Ramos 0, Lina 0.
NU 70 – Malonzo 11, Torres 10, Clemente 9, Mahinay 9, Felicilda 8, Ildefonso 7, Enriquez 4, Galinato 4, Tibayan 4, Joson 2, Manansala 2, Figueroa 0, Minerva 0, Yu 0.
Quarterscores: 20-25, 42-39, 57-53, 80-70.
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