UP Maroons regain UAAP cage crown

Francis Lopez buried the ghost of a nightmare Game 2 with a crucial long bomb in the series decider to make the University of the Philippines’ (UP) dream of bringing the shiny hardware back to Diliman come true.

Left open in a chaotic play with 1:12 left, Lopez swished in the dagger triple that ultimately decided the outcome of Game 3 of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 87 men’s basketball finals as the Fighting Maroons dethroned De La Salle University in a 66-62 decision Sunday night before a record crowd of 25,248 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The Season 86 Rookie of the Year picked the perfect time to bounce back from his costly late-minute booboos in the second game of the best-of-three series that dragged the finals rematch into another rubber match for UP’s fourth title overall.

Protecting a slim 61-60 lead, the prized forward scored the all-important trey that kept the Green Archers at bay.

Lopez had a double-double of 12 points and 11 rebounds while dishing out six assists in the Fighting Maroons’ first title since winning it all in Season 84. He did account for nine of his team’s 19 errors but it hardly mattered.

One-and-done center Quentin Millora-Brown finished his last game in a UP uniform with 14 points capped by a pair of free throws with 11.3 seconds left to ice the championship.

JD Cagulangan, hero of the Fighting Maroons’ Game 3 title victory two years ago, left a winning legacy in his final year. He closed his storied collegiate career with 12 points.

Back-to-back Most Valuable Player Kevin Quiambao willed La Salle back into the game to start the fourth quarter, hitting a triple to tie it at 56 with 9:20 left. It was a back-and-forth battle from there before Lian Ramiro got the Green Archers within one with 1:31 left before Lopez’s epic shot.

EJ Gollena answered with a basket off a steal. Cagulangan then missed his jumper on UP’s possession but Gerry Abadiano was there to grab the board as Millora-Brown was sent to the line for the final count.

Playing true to their tag as a third quarter team, the Fighting Maroons emerged from the dugout smoking. UP erected a 54-40 advantage after a Gerry Abadiano basket with 4:59 left.

But no lead is safe for La Salle as the Green Archers unleashed a late third quarter surge, ending the frame with a 10-2 run to cut the deficit to 56-50 entering the payoff period.

UP took control of the first half after a strong second quarter showing following a tight opening canto that ended up with the score tied at 21.

Cagulangan and Millora-Brown anchored the Fighting Maroons’ 21-15 barrage in the second frame. Millora-Brown gave UP a 38-30 lead after sinking a short stab on traffic with under four minutes left.

The Fighting Maroons entered the intermission with a 42-36 advantage despite a dry outside shooting after misfiring nine of their three-point attempts.

UP employed a hack-a-Mike Phillips strategy in the opening half, sending the notoriously poor free throw shooter on the line 11 times — missing six of his attempts.

Phillips reached double figures in the first 20 minutes of action with 15 points, keeping La Salle afloat despite Quiambao going gun-shy with just seven points on 2-of-4 shooting from the floor.

Phillips had 18 points and 12 rebounds while Quiambao was limited to 13 points on an atrocious 4-of-11 shooting for La Salle, which had a terrible 12-of-28 free throw shooting.