University of the Philippines found itself in unfamiliar territory after trailing University of Santo Tomas by a huge margin before the end of the first half of the game on Tuesday night at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
Goldwin Monteverde’s squad managed to rally back and secure the 98-82 victory but it wouldn’t be possible without the contributions of Zavier Lucero and Joel Cagulangan on both ends of the floor.
Lucero didn’t have the UAAP debut that he wanted after being limited to only two points, three rebounds, two assists, and two steals in 18 minutes played against Ateneo De Manila University.
Against the Growling Tigers, the 6-foot-7 swingman finally broke out after tallying 18 markers, eight boards, and two assists. He also left his imprint on the defensive end with three steals and a block in 22 minutes of action. Lucero claimed that getting his feet wet after their opening game against the Blue Eagles made him more comfortable looking for his shots and playing his brand of basketball.
“I would say I was a little bit more comfortable after the Ateneo game, my teammates and the coaching staff — they really reiterated their confidence in me,” he said. “This performance, if you look at basically all my points, they came from my teammates finding me in spots where I can get those shots to go so credit to them.
“I wouldn’t be able to score or do what I was doing unless they were there to help me out.”
Cagulangan, on the other hand, also produced an all-around effort with six points, two rebounds, nine assists to go with five steals in 21 minutes played. Monteverde then heaped praise on the 5-foot-9 point guard’s performance against UST as well as his playmaking abilities on the floor.
“Si Joel naman he played well, alam naman natin what Joel could do. Yes, he’s one of our point guards and dito naman sa’min at a given night anybody can fill that situation and nagawa niya. But most importantly, tonight kumbaga, nadala niya in a way na na-set up niya ng maayos,” claimed the multi-titled high school mentor.
“I think ‘yung influence niya having so many assists it goes on sa team eh, ‘yung movement ng ball it’s right there.”
After scoring their first victory, the Fighting Maroons (1-1) will aim to get a win run going when they take on National University (1-1) on Thursday, 4:00 PM at SM Mall of Asia Arena.
—
All UAAP games stream live on GigaPlay presented by Yamaha. Download it now on Android or IOS.
