University of the Philippines whipped Ateneo de Manila University into submission, 75-47, to draw closer to clinching a Final Four twice-to-beat advantage in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 87 men’s basketball tournament Wednesday at the Mall of Asia Arena.   

The Fighting Maroons started pulling away in the second quarter after a tight opening frame before breaking the game wide-open in the second  half on their way to a three-game winning streak for a 9-1 win-loss record.

Francis Lopez fired up UP’s balanced offense with his energy and aggressiveness as he finished with a game-high 20 points on 7-of-9 field goal shooting in the latest installment of the Battle of Katipunan.

Big man Quentin Millora-Brown finished with a double-double of 11 markers and 10 rebounds while Jacob Bayla and Reyland Torres added eight and seven points, respectively, as the Fighting Maroons completed an eliminations sweep of the Blue Eagles.  

UP struggled to break the ice in the first quarter trailing, 4-10, before igniting a run to finish the period up by two.

It was all Fighting Maroons from there.

Bayla gave UP its widest gap, 75-45, with 1:11 left in the game on an incomplete three-point play.

Despite trailing early, Fighting Maroons head coach Goldwin Monteverde felt his squad quickly adjusted to what Ateneo threw at them.

"For me, we started out well in the game. I guess I could say we adapted to the changing defense of Ateneo a while ago. The team was able to adapt right away. We were able to move the ball and at the same time, we were able to get the ball inside which you know, one of our strengths also,” he said.

“But then, I would say that as we go along the season playing as a team, we're improving in chemistry as a team."

The Fighting Maroons handed Blue Eagles mentor Tab Baldwin his worst losing margin since taking over the program in 2016.

Ateneo absorbed its second straight defeat to slide down to a 3-8 card.

No Blue Eagle reached double-figure scoring with Chris Koon scoring nine while Shaun Tuano and Andrew Bongo added eight and seven, respectively.

The scores:

UP (75) --- Lopez 20, Millora-Brown 11, Bayla 7, Torres 7, Stevens 7, Abadiano 6, Belmonte 5, Fortea 5, Alarcon 4, Cagulangan 2, Felicilda 0, Ududo 0, Briones 0, Torculas 0, Alter 0, Walker 0.     

Ateneo (47) --- Koon 9, Tuano 8, Bongo 7, Bahay 6, Porter 4, Balogun 4, Espina 3, Espinosa 2, Lazaro 2, Dela Cruz 2, Asoro 0, Quitevis 0, Reyes 0, Gamber 0, Edu 0.

Quarters: 17-15, 39-28, 66-40, 75-47