University of the Philippines had to dig deep to outlast University of the East, 84-77, in the UAAP Season 85 men’s basketball tournament, Wednesday at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
Zavier Lucero’s and-one with 42.8 seconds left gave the Fighting Maroons a 10-point lead, 79-69.
But CJ Payawal made a triple, before the Red Warriors stole the ball. The one-and-done winger shot anew for another trey with 29.8 ticks to go, 75-79.
In the ensuing play, Gerry Abadiano split his freebies before Nikko Paranada raced the length of the court. He made a layup to pull UE within three with 15.3 seconds remaining, 77-80.
They then put Malick Diouf to the free throw shooting test, wherein he made both freebies. UP fouled Kyle Paranada, who missed both his charities.
“We started slow again. We really need to work on ‘yung consistency ng team,” said UP coach Goldwin Monteverde.
The Fighting Maroons rose to a league-leading 5-1 win-loss record along with National University, which won earlier against De La Salle University.
Gerry Abadiano and Terrence Fortea had 13 points apiece for UP.
Carl Tamayo left the game with 56.5 seconds to go after hurting his right ankle on a wrong step. He also had 13 points with seven rebounds and four steals.
Payawal and Nikko Paranada paced UE with 21 and 20 points, respectively.
The Red Warriors saw their mini two-game winning streak halted while they fell to an even 3-3, joint-fourth with the Green Archers.
UP will next face the skidding University of Santo Tomas on Saturday at the Ynares Center in Antipolo. UE, on the other hand, will battle Ateneo de Manila University on Sunday to close the first round.
The Scores:
UP 84 — Tamayo 13, Fortea 13, Abadiano 13, Diouf 8, Spencer 7, Lucero 7, Gonzales 7, Calimag 5, Galinato 4, Ramos 3, Alarcon 2, Lina 2, Torculas 0.
UE 77 –– Payawal 21, N. Paranada 20, Villegas 10, Pagsanjan 9, K. Paranada 9, Stevens 3, Antiporda 3, Sawat 2, Beltran 0, Alcantara 0, Remogat 0.
Quarterscores: 18-13, 38-41, 59-56, 84-77.
