AFTER eleven years, the University of the Philippines won their fifth game out of 13 outings in the UAAP Men’s Basketball tournament. This time, it was against the season’s host, University of Santo Tomas, 74-69 on Sunday at the FilOil Arena.
It was a tough game between the two teams, who were both hungry to hopefully play in the playoffs. However, despite a head-to-head match in the first three quarters, UP was the one to pull away early in the fourth and took control of the game to victory.
“I think that we were able to achieve something that we are proud of,” UP Coach Bo Perasol said.
Paul Desiderio led UP and almost had a near triple double performance with 16 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists. The last UAAP player to record a triple-double was former UP player Marvin Cruz.
Noah Webb also stepped up for the Fighting Maroons with nine points. His two powerful blocks against UST team Captain Louie Vigil also became the highlight of his game performance.
Graduating guard and standout Jett Manuel seemed to have struggled in the game and was limited with only eight points.
UP continues to keep the Final Four hopes alive. However, for the Fighting Maroons to make it into the Final Four, the Adamson University (6-5) has to lose all of its remaining three games and UP will need to beat the Falcons on a playoff to make it into the next round.
“Nandun pa rin ‘yung nasa isip nila na may chance kami sa final four. Pero we agreed that hindi naman namin inasam ‘yun,” added Perasol.
UP is tied with National University with a 5-8 win-loss record and stays in the fifth spot in the league standings.
The Growling Tigers (3-9) was eliminated from the Final Four chase.
Vigil had 16 points before being fouled out with only seven minutes left in the game.
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