DESIDERIO DRILLS WINNING TREY TO ESCAPE UST IN SEASON OPENER
By Maxine Louise Lagman
10 September 2017
Paul Desiderio hit a booming triple as the University of the Philippines escaped a debut downfall against University of Santo Tomas, 74-73 on Sunday in the UAAP Season 80 men’s basketball tournament at the Mall of Asia Arena.
It was a tight game to start with, as big man Steve Akomo debuted for the UST Tigers and surely made his start a remarkable one by leading the squad from the first period and drilled several dunks by the end of the third quarter.
However, Akomo was fouled out late in the game after a one-on-one against UP Ibrahim Quattara.
Vaughn Soriano boosted the Tigers’ spirit and shot four consecutive baskets to make a 70-68 lead, while team captain Marvin Lee easily shot from the free throw line to keep themselves atop the Maroons, 73-71.
Five seconds left to play, UP Coach Bo Perasol called for a time out and calmly assured the Maroons on a game play, when Desiderio confidently shouted “Papasok yan coach!” as he was instructed to take the shot.
It almost seemed inevitable, but Desiderio easily shot a trey and the maroon crowd erupted into loud cheers, as the Fighting Maroons left no more room for the Tigers to take the win from them with only 1.1 ticks left.
Desiderio finished with 17 points, while Gelo Vito had nine points and six rebounds.
Meanwhile, Lee had a game-high 20 points, three assists and three steals and Akomo finished with a double-double record of 15 points, 14 rebounds and four blocks before being fouled out.
The Scores:
UP 74 – Desiderio 17, Vito 9, Webb 7, Gomez de Liano Ju 7, Manzo 6, Gomez de Liano Ja 6, Ouattara 4, Lim 4, Prado 4, Dario 4, Lao 4, Romero 2, Harris 0.
