Vhoris Marasigan rescued De La Salle University from the jaws of defeat with a go-ahead putback with under a minute left to take down defending champion University of the Philippines, 72-69, for a back-to-back win finish in the first round of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 88 men’s basketball tournament on Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Tied at 69, Marasigan cleaned up the missed triple by Earl Abadam for the follow-up basket with 47.5 seconds left. Mike Phillips added a split from the foul line with 13.1 ticks left before La Salle breathed a sigh of relief when Chico Briones, cold off the bench for the Fighting Maroons, bricked a potential game-tying three in a nail-biter rematch of last year’s finals.

La Salle, despite losing Mason Amos and Kean Baclaan early this week to season-ending knee injuries, improved to a 4-3 win-loss record in a three-way logjam with its victim and Ateneo de Manila University.

Luis Pablo led the Green Archers with 14 points, Jacob Cortez added 12 points while Phillips had a double-double of 12 points and 19 rebounds to go with four assists and a steal as the Green Archers snapped UP’s four-game winning run. 

EJ Gollena had 12 points while Earl Abadam scored five of his nine points in the crucial stretch of the fourth quarter, including an uncompleted four-point play that tied the game at 69 with 1:12 left.

Harold Alarcon paced the Fighting Maroons with 13 points while Gerry Abadiano, Francis Nnoruka and Terrence Fortea finished with 12 points each in a wasted effort.

Meanwhile, Far Eastern University (FEU) maintained discipline throughout the match and rolled past embattled University of the East (UE), 95-76, to arrest a two-game slide.

The Tamaraws sustained their blazing charge from start to finish, never giving the Red Warriors a break despite building a huge lead early against an opponent missing its head coach and one of its main gunners.  

Jorick Bautista led four other FEU players in double figures as he finished with 22 points on 7–of-11 shooting from the field.

Janrey Pasaol scored 13 of his 17 markers in the first half and dished out 10 assists, Mo Konateh had a double-double of 15 points and 14 rebounds, rookie Kirby Mongcopa got 12 points and 11 boards while Jed Daa produced 10 points for the Tamaraws.

FEU finished the first round with a 2-7 record and added woes to a UE squad, which played sans suspended mentor Chris Gavina and Wello Lingolingo.

“This is probably one of the hardest games for us to play with everything that was going on with UE. Losing their coach and losing one of their best players, the expectations have now flipped. We’ve been the underdogs, now we come in, with everything that’s going on with them, with the expectations that we’re supposed to win the game today,” Tamaraws head coach Sean Chambers sad. 

“So, kudos to my guys.”

The Tamaraws took full control of the match after the embattled Red Warriors scored the first basket and even built a 25-point cushion in the fourth quarter on their way to a 2-5 win-loss record.

Jorick Bautista led four other FEU players in double figures as he finished with 22 points on 7–of-11 shooting from the field.