The University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons, led by the duo of Paul Desiderio and Dave Moralde, notched a character-building win over the Far Eastern University Tamaraws, 67-61, to give head coach Bo Perasol his first win under the UP banner Wednesday evening at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan City.
Paul Desiderio and Dave Moralde scored 14 markers apiece to lead the Fighting Maroons in the game. Desiderio was 5 for 8 from the field while Moralde went 5 for 6 and added five boards to his statline.
“This is big for us even if it is just one game,” head coach Bo Perasol said about the win. “This is big for our mindset. I was hoping that we could really win this.”
Both teams struggled in the first half with the Maroons holding on to a 27-24 lead behind the 11 first half points of Dave Moralde.
With UP holding on to just a two point lead, 35-33, with 4:54 remaining in the third frame, the Fighting Maroons went on an 8-0 rally behind triples by Pio Longa and Desiderio. Ken Holmqvist and Monbert Arong were able to halt the rally but were answered right back by Moralde and the returning Paolo Romero to give the Maroons a 47-38 lead entering the final quarter.
“We need to tell ourselves that we can beat the defending champions even if it is not the best what FEU can give,” Perasol said.
Diego Dario went on a personal 6-0 run midway through the fourth quarter to help give UP its highest lead of the game 60-47. After a timeout by head coach Nash Racela, the Tamaraws went on an 11-1 rally with Arong and Rey Bienes knocking down threes to cut the UP lead to just three, 61-58, with 1:11 remaining.
In the next possession, energy guy Andrew Harris was able to find big man Lionel Tekoudjou underneath for a wide-open basket. After Arong missed a floater, Desiderio was able to score on a leaner to extend the Fighting Maroon lead to three possessions once more, 65-58. A triple by Arong with 12 ticks remaining proved too late as UP held on to a 67-61 win.
“That’s the only aspect of the game we could give right now, the energy,” Perasol added. “What’s important is that we understand that we could compete with everybody. We’ve been thinking that we can’t but I truly believe that we can.”
Arong led the Tamaraws with 14 points. Bienes added eight markers and three boards in the loss. However, the defending UAAP champions struggled from the field in shooting just 35 percent. Moreover, they were just 6 for 21 from downtown.
The Fighting Maroons (A, 1-1) look to build a winning streak as they face the CSB Blazers (A, 0-3) on Saturday, May 14 at 1:30pm. On the other hand, the FEU Tamaraws (A, 1-2) look to snap out of their streak on the same day as they face the NU Bulldogs (A, 2-1) at 5:00pm.
The Scores:
UP (67) – Desiderio 14, Moralde 14, Tekoudjou 10, Dario 10, Manuel 6, Romero 4, Longa 3, Harris 2, Asilum 2, Webb 2, Jaboneta 0, Barrad 0, Abarcar 0.
FEU (61) – Arong 14, Bienes 8, Holmqvist K. 7, Holmqvist S. 6, Orizu 6, Escoto 5, Ebona 4, Dennison 3, Trinidad 3, Comboy 3, Delfinado 2, Lee Yu 0, Bayquin 0, Tuffin 0, Nunag 0.
Quarterscores: 10-13, 27-24, 47-38, 67-61.
