Maroons rack up second straight win

By Mark Escarlote

University of the Philippines repulsed University of the East, 81-71, for its second straight win in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 87 men’s basketball tournament Saturday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The Fighting Maroons repelled a late uprising by the Red Warriors to stay unbeaten and move up to a share of the lead with defending champion De La Salle University and University of Santo Tomas.

Veteran guard JD Cagulanan led UP’s assault with 21 points in an efficient 5-of-6 three-point shooting clip while dishing out four assists and grabbing seven rebounds.

The back-to-back runners-up flirted with disaster when it allowed the Red Warriors to mount a fightback to trim a 27-point deficit to just 10 after an incomplete three-point play by Precious Momowei with 1:47 left for an 81-71 count.

UP then turned to its vaunted defense in the succeeding UE possessions to avert a meltdown.

“This is a teaching moment for us. First, I wanna thank the Lord for the win and like I said, every game is a teaching moment for us. We played well in the first two and a half quarters. The first half, on both ends, our offense was in a good flow, we were shooting the ball well and played good defense. Allowing them 29 points compared to the 42 in the second half,” UP coach Christian Luanzon said.

“We were able to score 21 in third but allowed them to score 20. That’s not our standard defensively,” he added.

Mark Belmonte and Harold Alarcon added nine markers each while Francis Lopez, Jacob Bayla and Dikachi Ududo chipped in seven each for the Fighting Maroons, who shot poorly from the foul line with 11-of-27 free throw clip.

The Fighting Maroons posted their biggest lead, 69-42, off a reverse pump slamdunk by Lopez with 1:50 left in the third.

UE then made the game interesting in the final canto.

The Red Warriors absorbed their second loss in as many games.

Momowei had 20 points and 13 rebounds to go with three blocks, Wello Lingolingo got 11 markers and 11 boards while Nico Mulingtapang and Rainer Maga added nine each for UE.

Box scores:

UP (81) --- Cagulangan 21, Belmonte 9, Alarcon 9, Lopez 7, Bayla 7, Ududo 7, Abadiano 6, Fortea 5, Millora-Brown 5, Stevens 2, Briones 2, Torres 1, Walker 0, Alter 0.

UE (71) --- Momowei 20, Lingolingo 11, Mulingtapang 9, Maga 9, Abate 6, Wilson 6, Fikes 6, Galang 2, J. Cruz-Dumont 0, H. Cruz-Dumont 0, Malaga 0.

Quarters: 25-13, 48-29, 69-49, 81-71