3 November 2018
By Maxine Louise Lagman
ANTIPOLO – University of the Philippines orchestrated a much-needed run coming into the second half that pushed them to victory against National University, 82-71, in the UAAP Season 81 men’s basketball tournament on Saturday at the Ynares Sports Center.
The Fighting Maroons brushed off University of Santo Tomas and Far Eastern University and now stand solo at fourth place with a 6-6 win-loss record.
Nigerian Bright Akhuetie and Juan Gomez De Liaño led UP late in the first half to lead by as much as 10 points, 40-30.
They did not stop there and continued for an 8-2 run going into the second half that stretched their lead to 16, 48-32.
With only 54 seconds left in the game, Dave Ildefonso pushed his team cut the deficit to seven, 71-78.
However, the combined force of Paul Desiderio and Gelo Vito completely stopped NU from scoring any points and easily clinch their sixth win in the tournament.
Akhuetie led UP with a 21-point, 10-rebound double-double, while Desiderio added 12 markers.
Juan GDL once again filled the stat sheet with 10 points, nine rebounds and seven assists while Vito knocked down 10 points.
On the other hand, Dave Ildefonso finished with 24 markers, while Joshua Sinclair had 13 points as NU dropped to the brink of the eliminations with a 3-8 slate.
The Scores:
UP 82 – Akhuetie 21, Desiderio 12, Ju. Gomez de Liaño 10, Vito 10, Manzo 8, Murrell 8, Prado 6, Gozum 4, Ja. Gomez de Liaño 2, Diego 1, Tungcab 0, Jaboneta 0, Spencer 0, Lim 0.
NU 71 – D. Ildefonso 24, Sinclair 13, Gallego 9, Rike 7, S. Ildefonso 6, Salim 6, Clemente 5, Gaye 1, Diputado 0, Yu 0, Tibayan 0, Galinato 0.
QUARTER SCORES: 17-15, 40-30, 60-49, 82-71
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