By Jun Ray Navarres
University of Philippines bounced back after experiencing its first loss, dominating Adamson University in a 77-51 closer of the quadruple header of UAAP Season 86 men’s basketball on Wednesday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
With their main guy Jerom Lastimosa back on the court, Adamson tried to put up a fight with a 17-11 first quarter but a 23-9 breakaway of UP at the second period spoiled Lastimosa’s return, going into the half trailing, 40-20.
Despite Adamson continuing strong, the lead built by the Fighting Maroons before halftime was too much for the Soaring Falcons to recover from.
“This was a good bounce back win for us coming off a loss (against Ateneo). One thing that Coach Gold (Monteverde) emphasized even from the start of the season is to always keep pounding,” said UP assistant coach Christian Luanzon.
Reigning MVP Malick Diouf gave UP the boost with 12 points and 14 rebounds while Reyland Torres added 12 points and seven rebounds.
Francis Lopez made 11 points while Harold Alarcon contributed nine. Janjan Felicilda supplied an all round game of seven points, seven assists, five rebounds, and two steals for UP.
Meanwhile, nobody scored double digits for Adamson with only Joshua Yerro and Eli Ramos leading the scoring with seven apiece.
UP rose to 7-1 to tie with National University for the top spot and looks to improve its standing in a revenge match against Ateneo de Manila University on Sunday at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
Adamson, on the other hand, hopes to end their three game losing skid against Far Eastern University.
Featured photo courtesy of UAAP
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