There are two important factors that University of the Philippines needs to consider to claim the University Athletic Association of the Philippines Season 86 men's basketball title.

First, is to keep 6-foot-11 big man Malick Diouf in the game while the other is to make sure that the Fighting Maroons control the boards against De La Salle University in Game 3 of the best-of-three finals today at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

"Malick has to be there (on the floor). Malick cannot be in foul trouble. No. 2 whoever controls the rebound will have a better chance of winning," UP Office for Athletics and Sports Development director Bo Perasol told Daily Tribune yesterday.

The Fighting Maroons failed to match the intensity and energy they had in their 97-67 rout of the Green Archers in Game 1 last week as La Salle equalized in Game 2 with a 22-point blowout.

UP was outrebounded by La Salle, 46-58, in Game 2. It even allowed the Green Archers to get extra possessions by pulling down 19 offensive boards in its 60-82 loss last Sunday. "That's what I see in this series. Rebounding plays a huge part. As you can see, both teams get their rhythm if they get their rebounding in transition and even on the offensive rebounding going. When they do that, both teams get good shooting nights," Perasol, the architect of the Fighting Maroons' Season 84 conquest that ended a 36-year title drought as the school's basketball program director, said.

In Game 1, UP plucked 55 rebounds — 10 more boards than La Salle.

"When we controlled the rebound, we had a good shooting night in the first game. When La Salle controlled the rebounding in the second game, they had a good shooting night also. The way I see it, rebounding is the one that controls the rhythm of that particular team," Perasol added.

Part of the Fighting Maroons getting outworked by Green Archers in the shaded lanes in Game 2 was Diouf's early foul trouble.

The graduating Senegalese already had two in the first half before eventually fouling out with more than three minutes left in the ballgame finishing with 11 points and 11 rebounds in 25 minutes of play.

Despite the setback, Perasol remains confident in UP's chances of preventing a repeat of Season 85 finals' deciding game loss to Ateneo de Manila University.

"We are ready as can be because this is the final game. What is important is that we have the right mindset going into Game 3. It's also important that everyone's healthy," he said.

Perasol adds that no team has a clear advantage over the other, which makes the winner-take-all even more exciting.

"I don't think that any team has a clear advantage in this (series). We've seen it in Game 1 and Game 2, both teams can really fire it up and they can beat each other. La Salle matured in terms of their experience and at the same time UP, although in the past they also proved that they can bounce back hard, but Game 3 is different," he said.