University of the Philippines ended Far Eastern University’s Final Four aspirations in the UAAP Season 86 Men’s Basketball Tournament with an 81-64 rout on Saturday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Fighting Maroons improved their record to 10-2 to remain on top of the table and boosted their hopes of getting a playoff advantage in the semifinals.
The Tamaraws, on the other hand, are now eliminated from Final Four contention for the second straight season.
They can only go as high as five wins, while one of the Ateneo Blue Eagles and Adamson Soaring Falcons – who will play each other on Sunday – will reach six wins already.
“I feel blessed,” said Sean Aldous Toculas, a second-year UPIS alumnus who led UP with 13 points, five rebounds, and two assists. “I’m just being patient, lalo na yung team.
“I’m just doing my role in the team. Actually, yun lang yung role ko sa team. I’m just gonna keep doing what I’m doing so one game at a time,” the 6-foot-4 forward continued.
Fighting Maroons head coach Goldwin Monteverde fielded all of his 15 student-athletes, with none clocking more than 21 minutes.
Meanwhile, only rookies Sean Alter and Mark Belmonte did not score a basket in the game.
From a slender 50-41 lead late in the third quarter, Francis Lopez and Chicco Briones linked up to give UP a 60-45 cushion with 49 seconds left in the period.
JD Cagulangan, CJ Cansino, and Briones then pummeled the Tamaraws to give their team its biggest lead at 66-47 early in the fourth quarter to ice the game for the Fighting Maroons.
Lopez followed Torculas’ lead with 12 points, nine rebounds, and four assists while Harold Alarcon contributed 11 points for UP.
The Fighting Maroons’ bench depth was just too much for the Tamaraws as the former produced 54 points while the latter could only muster 18.
“We’re just taking this one practice and one game at a time,” said Maroons assistant coach Christian Luanzon. “We know what’s at stake, obviously. Last game it clinched yung Final Four spot for us and now it’s another goal.
“Si Coach Gold, ni-re-remind niya lang yung mga players. There’s this thing that we call keep pounding. Even all throughout the game, he was reminding the players na hindi makukuha sa isang pound yung parang home run plays,” he continued.
Back in the first round, the Fighting Maroons also defeated the Tamaraws 80-76 in overtime last October 11.
This was also UP’s sixth straight win over FEU, which last prevailed over the former 82-79 in overtime last Season 82 on October 6, 2019.
UP will look to further boost its chances of nabbing one of the two playoff incentives on Wednesday. It plays University of Santo Tomas at 1:00 PM at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
On the other hand, the Tamaraws fell to 3-9 in seventh place off a four-game losing streak with a margin of 9.5 points.
L-Jay Gonzales and Jorick Bautista led FEU with 20 and 17 points respectively, while Senegalese center Mo Faty seized 13 rebounds.
FEU will look to end its campaign on the right note, starting on Wednesday when it takes on De La Salle University at 4:00 PM.
The Scores:
UP 81 – Torculas 13, Lopez 12, Alarcon 11, Briones 9, Cagulangan 7, Diouf 6, Felicilda 4, Pablo 4, Abadiano 4, Gonzales 4, Torres 3, Cansino 2, Gagate 2, Alter 0, Belmonte 0.
FEU 64 – Gonzales 20, Bautista 17, Sleat 8, Torres 8, Faty 6, Tempra 3, Ona 2, Bagunu 0, Montemayor 0, Buenaventura 0, Felipe 0, Competente 0.
Quarterscores: 16-13, 34-27, 60-47, 81-64
